Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas (The Texas Bookshelf)

Nothing like the Texas history I learned in junior high. Mr. Harrigan’s long and detailed history “tells it like it is”. It gives the unwashed ugliness as well as the heroic and beautiful of this strange and varied state. I’ve lived here most of my life and learned things that happened here long ago and more recently that I had no inkling about. It also brought back memories that I had thought I’d forgotten.I read a lot of history. Sometimes I struggle through interesting but excruciatingly dry writing in order to learn what happened or to gain insight on lands and peoples. There was no excruciating reading here. Mr. Harrigan is a good writer who tells a smooth story with clarity and directness. I am very pleased to recommend this book.

Many of you will be familiar with author John Steinbeck’s statement, "Texas is a state of mind, something felt rather than articulated," which certainly applies to my feelings about the place I’ve called home for fifty-four years… 1966-2020. Moreover, should you count my years as an adolescent living in San Antonio from 1952-1960 (I was three when my Dad got assigned to Headquarters, 4th U.S. Army, and I attended school at Fort Sam Houston, Texas from kindergarten through the fifth grade) it adds up to sixty-two years that I’ve claimed the Lone Star State as my own.Because of my inability to adequately explain what it is about Texas that I love, I find myself periodically reading books by authors far more gifted than I at expressing their observations and thoughts on the mystique that separates Texas from all other states. For example, it was almost on this exact same date two years ago that I wrote a review of the book God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright (see my previous blog post dated Jul 5, 2018) which was actually being researched and written at the same time that Stephen Harrigan was compiling his history of Texas, Big Wonderful Thing. The two men happen to be friends and visited some of the same historical sites together.However, Harrigan’s book is encyclopedic compared to Wright’s; at 925 pages (829 if you exclude the Acknowledgements, Notes, Bibliography, and Index) it is massive in scope, yet surprisingly readable. History is often nothing more than dates, historical figures and events; dry and boring. Harrigan blends these same elements of history with great storytelling, so the only real issue I had with the book was the difficulty I had holding it up to read!Meticulously researched, Big Wonderful Thing is informative, educational, and entertaining. It spans the years 1528 to the present, but rather than a strict chronological record it uses anecdotal information and individual stories of people and events – not just those that are well known, but obscure men and women and their involvement in moments that shaped the progression and evolution of Texas.The portrayal goes well beyond the myths about Texas that as a child I learned in school. The reality is far more complex, and Harrigan deftly blends factual material with his abilities as a novelist to engage readers in the small details and stories that give context to the larger picture. Some author bias is inevitable in the telling of these stories, but on the whole it is a notable literary achievement.The title of the book comes from a quote by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe: "I couldn’t believe Texas was real… the same big wonderful thing that oceans and the highest mountains are."Certainly Texas, with all of its faults, complexities, and contradictions has achieved singular elevated status (for better or worse) among the fifty states that comprise our Union, and Stephen Harrigan has given us a worthy rendering of its history that compares favorably and even exceeds that previously attempted by other historians and authors. It is the type of history book that you can literally open to any chapter and find enjoyment in learning something new about Texas or adding to the knowledge that you already had.I highly recommend Big Wonderful Thing.

My anglo Texas lineage includes slave owners, confederate soldiers, even borderland ranchers and Rangers. Here I am having spent my youth sitting in for Civil Rights, marching against war and go ahead, call me a woman’s libber. So, it seems, I live without guilt with my family past and present in “harmonic conflict”. A book of history that I looked forward to daily reading time. All 840 or so pages.

A very educational and easy-to-read book (except for the quotations; see below). The author has a way with words, coming up with clever, easy-on-the-eyes turns of phrase, and he knows his subject very well. He respects Texas history deeply, but at the same time he does not set it on a false pedestal; he bluntly informs the reader just how deeply slavery and racism permeates so much of that history. He describes usually-revered historic figures, such as Sam Houston, exactly as they were, showing the good and the bad. He covers the rich, and violent, Native American history of Texas, never forgetting that Texas history is not just the Anglo version. He doesn't whitewash the way Native Americans were pushed out of Texas, and the way land was stolen and promises broken.After reading this book, I have a better understanding of how the Texas revolution from Mexico came about. I had never realized just how much the institution of slavery was a big reason for it.Much of the book centers on explorers, politics, and battles, but the author also dedicates some space to tragedies, artists, musicians, and geology, and he talks a little about how geology and history are intertwined.The author also knows a boatload of $20 words and isn't afraid to use them. This book expanded my vocabulary.There were a handful of grammatical errors/typos which need to be cleaned up. This is a trivial matter, affecting only a tiny, tiny fraction of the book.The only real complaint I have is the way the author conveys quotes. He begins the quote with the first few words of the first sentence, then pauses the quote to tell you who's speaking, the context, and a handful of other facts, before continuing the quote MID-SENTENCE half a paragraph later. There are maybe a hundred of these, and I found it super annoying. This is the only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5.Overall, a very good read. Would recommend.