Knight without Armor is the definitive biography of one 
of the most substantial yet unknown historians of the twentieth 
century. No historian of Hispanic descent has matched 
Castañeda's success, with eighteen books and nearly fifty 
articles published in three decades. He was also one of the 
most distinguished historians of his time, having earned 
accolades such as knighthood in the Vatican's Equestrian Order 
of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and in Spain's Order of 
Isabel la Católica for contributing to the study of Catholicism 
and the history of the Spanish borderlands in North America.


In his rise to prominence, Castañeda had to overcome financial 
burdens and ethnic discrimination. Rising from humble origins 
in South Texas, he fought to improve school conditions in the 
barrios of San Antonio and Del Rio and served on Franklin D. 
Roosevelt's Committee on Fair Employment Practice during World 
War II. In 1939 he became a professor and historian at the 
University of Texas, where he taught Latin American and 
Catholic history. His seven-volume study, Our Catholic 
Heritage in Texas, 1519–1950, has been called the best 
work ever written on the Spanish colonial era in Texas.


Until his death in 1958, Castañeda educated others on the 
history and culture of Hispanic Americans and courageously 
sought equality for his people. Author Félix Almaráz has drawn 
on writings, interviews, and photographs from private 
collections as well as extensive data from state and national 
archives in this worthy tribute to an important historian.


"Extraordinary achievement about a rather extraordinary 
individual.  It is based upon excellent (even prodigious) 
research and exhibits a diligence and creativity on the part of 
the author that is exemplary."—Thomas W. Jodziewicz, University 
of Dallas


"It is on rare occasions—if ever at all—that a scholar is 
called upon to review a book that he or she can confidently 
acclaim as a work which will find itself lodged as a classic in 
the annals of historiography for decades to come. Such, however, 
is the case with this reviewer as he with great enthusiasm read 
Félix D. Almaráz's biography of one of Texas' most revered 
historians, the late Dr. Carlos Eduardo Castañeda. Beyond any 
doubt, Almaráz's effort will endure as the standard by which 
forthcoming biographical studies of personages prominent in the 
narratives of Mexico, the Catholic Southwest, or the Borderlands 
will be measured.
Almost twenty tears in the making, Knight without Armor: 
Carlos Eduardo Castañeda, 1896–1958, is an intellectually 
and spiritually compelling tome that matured from the author's 
hand in a brilliant historical literary style. Accolades are due 
Professor Almaráz for giving us such an outstanding biography of 
this great scholar."
—The Catholic Historical Review


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FÉLIX D. ALMARÁZ, JR., is former president of the Texas State 
Historical Association and of the Texas Catholic Historical 
Society. An alumnus of Saint Mary's University and the 
University of New Mexico, he is the author of several books, 
including Tragic Cavalier: Governor Manuel Salcedo of Texas, 
1808–1813, reissued by Texas A&M University Press in 1991. 
He teaches at the University of Texas at San Antonio.