Description: 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 Castaneda'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 Catolica for contributing to the study of Catholicism and the history of the Spanish borderlands in North America.

In his rise to prominence, Castaneda 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, Castafieda educated others on the history and culture of Hispanic Americans and courageously sought equality for his people. Author Felix Almaraz has drawn on numerous 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.

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