Big Wonderful Thing

From the New York Times-bestselling author, "as good a state history as has ever been written and a must-read for Texas aficionados." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The story of Texas is the story of struggle and triumph in a land of extremes. It is a story of drought and flood, invasion and war, boom and bust, and the myriad peoples who, over centuries of conflict, gave rise to a place that has helped shape the identity of the United States and the destiny of the world. Big Wonderful Thing invites us to walk in the footsteps of these people along the path of Texas's evolution. Blending action, atmosphere, and impeccable research, it brings to life the generations of driven men and women who shaped Texas, including Spanish explorers, American filibusters, Comanche warriors, wildcatters, Tejano activists, and spellbinding artists—all of them taking their part in the creation of a place that became not just a nation, not just a state, but an indelible idea—in an "exhilarating" book that dares to tell the whole glorious, gruesome, epically sprawling story of Texas (Kirkus Reviews).


"What really sets Big Wonderful Thing apart is that it reads more like Lonesome Dove than it does something you might have been assigned in your seventh grade Texas history class." ?Texas Monthly

"Lavishly illustrated, fully annotated, brimming with sass, intelligence, trenchant analysis, literary acumen and juicy details, it is a page-turner . . . Popular history at its best." ?The Wall Street Journal 

"Of particular interest is the attention Harrigan pays to marginalized groups; his writing on native peoples and African Americans in Texas is compelling." ?Publishers Weekly, "The 10 Best Books About Texas"


"Endlessly readable." —NPR