People who list “politics”–much less “Texas politics”–as one of their primary interests and activities are quite often difficult to buy for.

So, in hopes of making your holiday gift giving a little easier this season (and because we wanted an excuse to write about books related to Texas politics), Capitol Annex has compiled a handy Holiday Book guide for 2007. All of these books–or, at least, most of them–relate directly to Texas politics. Some are old and obscure, some are classics, and some are new.

In any instance, over the next few weeks, we hope to introduce you to some of our favorite books on Texas politics and, perhaps, give you some ideas for holiday gift giving.

So, without further ado, here’s our first selection: Allan Shivers: The Pied Piper of Texas Politics.

I suspect some of our younger readers who are more familiar with the Bush-Perry-DeLay-Craddick era of Texas politics may have only heard of former Texas Governor Allan Shivers in passing. Indeed, Shivers was even before Capitol Annex’s time but he remains an important figure in Texas politics.

This particular work isn’t likely one you can find brand new, but used copies are for sale all across Amazon, as noted below.

I recently read this book and it is actually what inspired me to put together this series. During the past year, I’ve read a good number of books on Texas politics and Texas political figures–several of which pass for fairly obscure titles here in 2007.

Without boring you with a full review of this book, here is why it would make a good gift for any political aficionado on your list.

First and foremost, understanding the Allan Shivers era in Texas politics is important to understanding the Republican Revolution in Texas that ultimately led to the complete takeover of state government by Republicans. A major issue during Shivers’ administration was the control of the “tidelands” off the Texas Gulf Coast. As a result of President Truman’s stance on the Tidelands Controversy, Shivers supported Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower for President in 1952. This “ticket splitting” caused the state’s Republican Party to nominate Shivers for Governor, and he ultimately ran in the general election as the nominee of both political parties.

In addition (and, in my view, more interesting) are chapters in the book dealing with the Texas Legislature during Shivers’ tenure (he served in the state senate). Not only do these chapters help a student of Texas politics understand how that body worked in the 1940s and 1950s, but they also help the reader understand the how’s and why’s of important legislation of that era, such as the Gilmer-Aikin Act.

While this text is a little too laudatory of Shivers and is written in a somewhat outdated style and vernacular by two reporters who covered Shivers for much of his time in public office, those shortcomings are worth overcoming because of the history any serious student of Texas politics will pick up from the book.

From the knowledge you’ll gain about individual legislators of the mid-2oth Century to learning more about controversies, scandals, and major legislation that helped shape Texas politics through the last half of the previous century, this book would make a great gift for your favorite Texas political junkie.