A dissertation turned into a book, which sometimes leads to less than stellar writing, but a fabulous topic! Hales explores three generations of a Texas family--the white plantation owner, his mulatto son who became the leader of the Republican party in Texas (back when Texas was a one-party Democrat state--those were the days!), and the granddaughter who became a concert soprano and leading scholar of African American music. Great stuff, and I now want to find out more about Maud Cuney Hare.