A.K.A - Longest book ever written. It has been a very interesting endeavor but I will say, it has tested even my stamina when it comes to delving into history. I think the FDR biography was the only other one that really made me deliberate if I really should finish or find the cliff notes...
I will say I haven't actually finished this book yet and it has been over a month (A MONTH) since I started but I did take two slight detours into Sue Monk Kidd's books so hopefully that excuses my delay.
Enough kidding, I have liked this book and it has been VERY (exhaustively) informative about the great state. It all started just before Texas Independence Day when I was reading in Texas Monthly about the 175th Anniversary of Texas and got all filled up with state pride. I realized that as much as I boast about the Lone Star State, all I really knew was what I learned in school (which we all find out is pretty much rubbish once we are older) so I thought to educate myself with one of the foremost experts on the field.
This man knows EVERYTHING about Texas from every single original inhabitant to every census ever taken to the ridiculous politics throughout Reconstruction. (I've only just hit the oil boom but I fully expect him to also know who actually shot J.R. once I get there.) The level of detail that has gone into this book is staggering, I can't even begin to imagine the bibliography that has to go with it.
I do like how he pulls global and U.S. events into the conversation to give a well-rounded perspective of events. One of my favorite things about history is the give and take, one action has a direct and equal reaction, cause and effect, nothing exists in a vacuum. What would Texas be like if a few key events hadn't taken place? How different would our lives be? Our identities as Texans that most states don't possess - would that have ever formed without Goliad, the Alamo or San Jacinto? If the goal was to always be incorporated into the Union, how did the focus ON Texas as its own entity have time to grow and be so pervasive through generations?
Sam Houston has really emerged as more of a hero than I ever previously thought of him to be. He alone seems to have had a clear mind and head about the best practices when it came to governing but as it always seems to be in politics, those who shouted louder, won out.
I will say the one thing missing from the book so far, though he does touch on it slightly (and god knows there is no more room for extra information) is the role women played in the creation of the state. Right now, its pretty much a boys club but I know there are some key ladies in the history that need to be given their due.
All in all, I'd recommend but give yourself PLENTY of time to get through it.
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