Galveston Historical Foundation has put together an assortment of wonderful books about this beautiful and historic city on the water.

>> Galveston: A City on Stilts (signed by the authors): a new book by Galveston Historical Foundation curators Jodi Wright-Gidley and Jennifer Marines, is the story of the city's reconstruction after the Great Storm of September 8, 1900, a hurricane that killed 6,000 people and remains the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
>> In Sailing Ship Elissa, Patricia Bellis Bixel provides a complete history of this 1877 ship: her building and launching in Aberdeen, Scotland; her prime years of sailing under British, Norwegian, and Swedish flags; her decline as a Greek smuggler; and her eventual restoration as a tall ship for Texas. Included also is a view of the life of staff and crew on board the ship during a sailing season today.
>> The Galveston Architecture Guidebook emphasizes the city's imposing business blocks, institutional buildings, and houses, both large and small. Conceived in the nineteenth-century, Galveston's town plan was highly sophisticated, reflecting the city's role as a major American port and cultural force from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century. 
>> Alleys & Back Buildings of Galveston: Interweaving written documents, oral interviews, and pictorial images, author Ellen Beasley presents a vivid picture of Galveston's alleys and alley life from the founding of the city into the twentieth century.
>> Clayton's Galveston:  The booming island city of Galveston owed much of its glory, majesty and splendor to architect Nicholas J. Clayton. This book chronicles Galveston's architectural transformation in the late-19th century, comparing Clayton's work with that of his rivals (Alfred Muller, Edward J. Duhamel and others), as well as examining the theories, styles and influences of the period.
>> A Weekend In September: First published in 1957, this skillfully written book collects interviews from survivors of the worst natural disaster in US history -- the Galveston storm of 1900. The first person accounts vividly recreate the terrifying day.