| | Dallas Cowboy Books: The Tom Landry Era |
| | I. Team histories |
| | 1970 Blair, Sam. Dallas Cowboys: Pro or Con? Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1st published history of the Cowboys (OP). |
| | 1970 Chipman, Donald, Randolph Campbell & Robert Calvert. The Dallas Cowboys and the NFL. Norman, OK: Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Comprehensive analysis of team management and operations (OP). |
| | 1972 St. John, Bob. We Love You Cowboys. NY: Sport Magazine Press. About 1/3rd is team history; 2/3rds are player bios (OP). |
| | 1974 Meyers, Jeff. Great Teams, Great Years: The Dallas Cowboys. NY: Macmillan. Many illustrations, focuses on '66-'73. One of a series including Cleve., Det., KC, LARams, NYG, Steelers, SF, and Washington (OP). |
| | 1974 St. John, Bob. The Dallas Cowboys. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. No TofC and no index, but many good B&W photos (L)(OP)(P). |
| | 1981 Whittingham, Richard. The Dallas Cowboys: An Illustrated History. NY: Harper & Row. 1st "coffee-table" sized hardback. Reviews each year from '60-'80, including '52 Dallas Texans (later Balt. Colts) (L)(OP). |
| | 1982 Rappaport, Ken. Football's Special Teams: Cowboys/Raiders. NY: Grosset & Dunlap. Part I discusses Dallas; II covers the Raiders, but no comparison of the two, which would have been interesting (OP)(P). |
| | 1983 Panaccio, Tim. Cowboys an' Indians. NY: Leisure Press. Chronicles the storied Dallas-Washington rivalry; covers each of 46 games from '60 to '82 NFC Championship (OP)(P). |
| | 1984 Stowers, Carlton. Dallas Cowboys: The First Twenty-Five Years. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. 25th anniversary album; also looks at team organization and management; has a trivia section; and covers fans, Cheerleaders, and media (L)(OP). |
| | 1984 Stowers, Carlton. The Cowboy Chronicles: A Sportswriter's View of America's Most Celebrated Team. Austin, TX: Eakin Press (P). Compilation of team and player vignettes. |
| | 1989(*) Alcorta, Joe. La Historia de un Famoso Equipo: Los Dallas Cowboys. Abilene, TX: Hermenejildo Press. "The History of a Famous Team: The Dallas Cowboys" (Spanish). "America's Team" is also "Mexico's Team"! |
| | 1997 Eisenberg, John. Cotton Bowl Days: Growing Up with Dallas and the Cowboys in the 1960s. New York: Simon & Schuster. One man's loving recollection of his childhood spent watching the Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl. |
| | 1997 Golenbock, Peter. Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes: The Definitive Oral History of America's Team. New York: Warner Books. Massive (838p) compilation of player interviews spanning from 1958 to 1997. |
| | 1997 Snider, Rick, David Elfin, John Keim & Mickey Spagnola. America's Rivalry: The 20 Greatest Redskins-Cowboys Games! Game articles primarily from the 60s-80s, with player and coaching highlights (L)(P). |
| | II. Season reviews |
| | 1969 Perkins, Steve. Next Year's Champions: The Story of the Dallas Cowboys. NY: World Publishing. 1st published account of the Cowboys; covers 1968 season (OP). |
| | 1972 Perkins, Steve. Winning the Big One. NY: Grosset & Dunlap. Followup to "Next Year's Champions"; reviews 1971 season and Super Bowl VI victory (OP). |
| | 1973(*) Perkins, Steve. The Drive to Win: The Making of the Dallas Cowboys. NY: Grosset & Dunlap. Paperback version of "Winning the Big One" (OP)(P). |
| | 1997 Gruver, Ed. The Ice Bowl: The Cold Truth about Football's Most Unforgettable Game. Ithaca, NY: McBooks Press. Much better than the Shropshire book, the author is a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association (PFRA). |
| | 1997 Shropshire, Mike. The Ice Bowl: The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys Season of 1967. New York: Donald I. Fine Books. Hatchet job on Texas, Dallas and the Cowboys by a Ft. Worth-based Packer fan. |
| | III. Team Yearbooks |
| | 1980 The Official Dallas Cowboys Bluebook. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. 1st in the series published by the team (L)(OP). |
| | 1981 Lane, Olivia, ed. The Official 1981 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. II. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1982 Lane, Olivia, ed. The Official 1982 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. III. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1983 Stowers, Carlton & Greg Aiello. The Official 1983 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. IV. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1984 Perkins, Steve & Greg Aiello. The Official 1984 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. V. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1985 Perkins, Steve & Greg Aiello. The Official 1985 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. VI. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1986 Perkins, Steve. The Official 1986 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. VII. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1987 Perkins, Steve. The Official 1987 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. VIII. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1988 Stowers, Carlton & Jarrett Bell. The Official 1988 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. IX. Dallas: Taylor Publishing (L)(OP). |
| | 1989 Bell, Jarrett. The Official 1989 Dallas Cowboys Bluebook, Vol. X. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. Last of the series; although about Jerry's Cowboys, I list it here to keep the series complete (L)(OP). |
| | IV. Player biographies |
| | 1962 (*) Gardner, Richard. Is My Job for You? Talks with men in fifteen exciting careers. J. Day. Includes interview with Cowboys QB Eddie LeBaron |
| | 1972 (*) Gutman, Bill. Great Quarterbacks # 1: Staubach, Griese, Plunkett, Gabriel. NY: Tempo Books. Paperback mini-bios of four great QBs of the 70s (OP)(P). |
| | 1972 Rentzel, Lance. When All the Laughter Died in Sorrow. NY: Saturday Review Press. Poignant auto-bio of former wide receiver; 1st (non-juvenile) player bio (OP). |
| | 1974 Staubach, Roger, Sam Blair & Bob St. John. Staubach: First Down, Lifetime To Go. Waco, TX: Word Books. 1st of two non-juvenile bios; not his favorite (OP). |
| | 1975 Toomay, Pat. The Crunch. NY: W. W. Norton. By a former defensive lineman, covers his 5-year career with Dallas (OP). |
| | 1977 Gutman, Bill. The Great Quarterbacks: Stabler, Kilmer, Bradshaw, Staubach. NY: Tempo Books. Paperback mini-bios of four great QBs of the 70s (OP)(P). |
| | 1980 Luksa, Frank. Roger Staubach: Time Enough to Win. Waco, TX: Word Books. Roger's preferred bio, written after his retirement (OP). |
| | 1981 Morton, Craig & Robert Burger. The Courage to Believe. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Short bios of several players, both Cowboys and non-Cowboys (OP). |
| | 1982 Stowers, Carlton. Journey to Triumph: 110 Dallas Cowboys Tell Their Stories. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. Series of player vignettes (OP). |
| | 1985 Pearson, Preston. Hearing the Noise: My Life in the NFL. NY: William Morrow. Pearson is a former Cowboys running back and 3rd-down specialist; also played for Baltimore (led NFL in KO returns '69) and Pittsburgh; played in 5 SBs (3, 9, 10, 12 and 13)(OP). |
| | 1986 Martin, Harvey. Texas Thunder: My Eleven Years With the Dallas Cowboys. NY: Rawson Associates. Martin is a former Cowboys defensive end and was co-MVP with Randy White of SB 12 (OP). |
| | 1987 Henderson, Thomas "Hollywood" & Peter Knobler. Out of Control: Confessions of an NFL Casualty. NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons. "Colorful" Henderson is a former Cowboys linebacker; before SB 13, said Bradshaw was so dumb he couldn't spell "cat" is you spotted him the "c" and the "a"! |
| | 1988 Garrison, Walt & John Tullus. Once a Cowboy. NY: Random House. Walt is a former Cowboys fullback, and a cowboy in real-life (OP). |
| | 1988 Thomas, Duane & Paul Zimmerman. Duane Thomas and the Fall of America's Team. NY: Warner Books. The "enigmatic" Thomas is a former Cowboys halfback who once called Tex Schramm "dishonest, sick, and totally demented", to which Tex answered, "Two out of three's not bad!" |
| | 1989 Dorsett, Tony & Harvey Frommer. Running Tough: Memoirs of a Football Maverick. NY: Doubleday. HOFer Dorsett is a former Cowboys running back, and 2nd of 3 Heisman winners (incl Staubach & HWalker) to play for Dallas. |
| | 1990 Hayes, Bob & Robert Pick. Run, Bullet, Run: The Rise, Fall, and Recovery of Bob Hayes. NY: Harper & Row. Hayes is a former Cowboys split end and '64 Olympic gold medalist in track. |
| | 1990 Klein, Dave. Tom and the 'Boys. NY: Kensington Publishing. Opinions of players (Lilly, Staubach, Dorsett, et al.) about Landry and his firing, as well as local reporters Blackie Sherrod and Frank Luksa. |
| | 1996(*) Gent, Peter. The Last Magic Summer: A Season with My Son. NY: William Morrow. Gent coaches his son's baseball team. |
| | 1997 Massey, Craig. More Than Winners! Cowboys Share their Life On & Off the Field. Grand Island, NE: Cross Training Publishing. Christian testimonies of Cowboy players and coaches (12 Landry-era, 8 Jones-era) (P). |
| | V. Other biographies |
| | 1979 St. John, Bob. The Man Inside...Landry. Waco, TX: Word Books. 1st of 4 Landry bios (OP). |
| | 1988 St. John, Bob. Tex! The Man Who Built the Dallas Cowboys. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Only bio of former GM Tex Schramm. |
| | 1989 St. John, Bob. The Landry Legend: Grace Under Pressure. Dallas: Word Publishing. 2nd bio, 1st after the firing. |
| | 1989 Wolfe, Jane. The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty. NY: St. Martin's. Biography of original team owner and his family; available in paperback only (hardback is OP). |
| | (The 1986 book, Clint: Clinton Williams Murchison -- A Biography is actually about the father of the former Cowboys owner; written by Ernestine Orrick Van Buren; published by Eakin Press of Austin, TX; and is OP) |
| | 1990 Bayless, Skip. God's Coach: The Hymns, Hype, and Hypocrisy of Tom Landry's Cowboys. NY: Simon & Schuster. An irreverent view of the "man in the funny hat". |
| | 1990 Landry, Tom & Gregg Lewis. Tom Landry: An Autobiography. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing. 4th bio overall; 3rd "post-JJ" |
| | 1992 Hitt, Dick. Classic Clint: The Laughs and Times of Clint Murchison, Jr. Plano, TX: Wordware. Bio of original team owner (P). |
| | 1997(*) Stallings, Gene and Sally Cook. Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son. NY: Little, Brown and Company. Stallings' story of raising his son with Down's Syndrome; Stallings is a former Cowboys defensive assistant. |
| | VI. Cowboy Wives |
| | 1972 Field, Bobbi. The Dallas Cowboys' Super Wives. Austin, TX: Shoal Creek Publishers. Interviews with 34 wives; includes a "Woman's Guide to Football" (OP). |
| | 1979 Breunig, Mary. The Dallas Cowboys Wives' Cookbook & Family Album. Ft. Worth, TX: Higgins Printing. Recipes of players, staff, and wives; 1st of a series; proceeds support a children's home near Dallas (OP)(P). |
| | 1980 Breunig, Mary. The Dallas Cowboys Wives' Cookbook & Family Album, 2nd Ed. Mesquite, TX: Horticultural Printers (OP)(P). |
| | 1981 Breunig, Mary. The Dallas Cowboys Wives' Family Fitness Guide and Nutritional Cookbook. Mesquite, TX: Horticultural Printers (OP)(P). |
| | VIII. Other |
| | 1975 (*) Medlin, Barry and Larry. Dallas Cowboys Procartoons. Humorous drawings of Texas Stadium and many players (OP) |
| | 1978 Staubach, Roger. The NFL Way to Play Touch Football. NY: NFL Properties. Sears promo 16p. pamphlet (OP)(P). |
| | 1979 Liston, Robert A. The Great Teams: Why They Win All the Time. NY: Doubleday. Chapters on the Yankees, Celtics, Canadiens, and of course, the Cowboys (OP). |
| | 1980 Agajanian, Ben & Paul T. Owens. The Kicking Game. Milbrae, CA: Celestial Arts. Agajanian is a former Cowboys kicking coach (OP)(P). |
| | 1980 Todd, Doug. How to Talk Country. NY: Bantam. Not about football, but written by former Cowboys PR director (OP)(P). |
| | 1981 Kinder, Jack, Gary Kinder, and Roger Staubach. Winning Strategies in Selling. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. About marketing, motivation and selling (OP). |
| | 1983 Lilly, Bob & Sam Blair. Bob Lilly: Reflections. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. Autobiographical collection of Lilly's photos. |
| | 1984 Nelson, Mark & Miller Bonner. The Semi-Official Dallas Cowboys Haters' Handbook. NY: Collier Books. Written by 2 Redskin fans (OP)(P). |
| | 1986 Stratton, Gary & Robert Krug. Dallas Cowboys Trivia Challenge. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. Prize was $10,000! Krug wrote a column on Cowboy collectibles for the Dallas Cowboys Weekly team newspaper (OP)(P). |
| | 1989 Walker, Herschel & Terry Todd. Herschel Walker's Basic Training (rev ed). NY: Doubleday. 1st ed. published in 1985 (P). |
| | IX. Indirectly Related |
| | 1952 Stump, Al. Champions Against the Odds. Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith. A chapter (Leather-Lugging Legend) deals with Eddie LeBaron. Published before his stint with the Cowboys, LeBaron was the Cowboys' 1st QB, preceding Don Meredith (OP). |
| | 1982 Berry, Raymond & C. H. Gilbert. Raymond Berry's Complete Guide to Coaching Pass Receivers. West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing. Baltimore Colt HOFer Berry was Cowboy's receivers coach in 1968-69 (OP). |
| | |
| | (There is no R. Berry bio that I know of; the book, The Ray Berry Years (1982, Paris, TX: Wright Press (OP)) by S. Steely is actually about Raymond Berry's father, and is the story of his coaching career at Paris HS in Paris, TX.) |
| | 1986 Ditka, Mike & Don Pierson. Ditka: An Autobiography. Chicago: Bonus Books. The fiery Ditka was a Cowboys tight end and assistant coach before coaching the Bears. |
| | 1988 Reeves, Dan & Dick Connor. Reeves: An Autobiography. Chicago: Bonus Books. Reeves, a former Cowboys halfback and assistant coach, has since coached Denver, the Giants and the Falcons. |
| | 1988 Stamborski, Jim, ed. Don't Get Me Wrong!: Mike Ditka's Insights, Outbursts, Kudos and Comebacks. Chicago: Chicago Review. |
| | 1992 Keteyian, Armen. Ditka: Monster of the Midway. NY: Pocket Books. Unauthorized bio of the Bears' former coach. |
| | X. Cheerleaders |
| | 1979 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Dallas: Jordan & Co. This is the '79/'80 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) Yearbook (OP)(P). |
| | 1982 Evans, Mary Candace. A Decade of Dreams: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. History of the DCC (OP)(P). |
| | 1991 Scholz, Suzette, Stephanie & Sheri. Deep In the Heart of Texas: Reflections of Former Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. NY: St. Martin's Press. These three sisters are all ex-DCCs. |
| | XI. Fiction |
| | 1968 Cartwright, Gary. The Hundred Yard War. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1st (?) novel about pro football in Dallas (OP). |
| | 1968 (*) Exley, Frederick. A Fan's Notes. NY: Harper & Row. Fan has heart attack while watching Giants-Dallas game (OP) |
| | 1973 Gent, Peter. North Dallas Forty. NY: William Morrow. Best known fictional work loosely based on the Cowboys; Gent is an ex-Cowboys receiver (OP). |
| | 1975(*) Harris, Thomas. Black Sunday. NY: Putnams. Movie version features footage of the Cowboys and Steelers in SB 10. |
| | 1978 Gent, Peter. Texas Celebrity Turkey Trot. NY: William Morrow (OP). |
| | 1981 Potter, Jerry Allen. If I Should Die Before I Wake. NY: Fawcett (P)(OP). |
| | 1983 (*) Carnell, Lois. Beyond the Flight of Birds. Harlequin (P)(OP). Romance novel involving an architect who is also an ex-Cowboy. |
| | 1983 Gent, Peter. The Franchise. NY: Villard Books (OP). |
| | 1984 Toomay, Pat. On Any Given Sunday. NY: Donald Fine (OP). |
| | |
| | (There is a 1986 novel by John Works called Thank You, Queen Isabella. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. This book is *NOT* about the Cowboys! Some search engines may say otherwise, but don't waste your money!) |
| | 1989 Gent, Peter. North Dallas After Forty. NY: Villard Books. Sequel to "North Dallas Forty". |
| | 1994(*) Gent, Peter. The Conquering Heroes. NY: Donald Fine. 5th novel by the prolific Gent; even though it is about college basketball, I include it for completeness' sake, because the author (a former basketball star at Mich. St.) is an ex-Cowboy. |
| | If any reader has a copy of titles I am missing (indicated by *), please let me know . |
| | Notations: |
| | L-large format (i.e., "coffee-table" size); P-paperback; OP-out of print; (*)-books I'm still looking for (I have photocopies of some of these, indicated by an (X)). |
| | Copyright © 1995, 2008 Fred Goodwin. All rights reserved. Revised March 2, 1999 |