Texas has long been a source of international fascination for writers, thinkers, musicians, artists, and innovators alike. This vast and varied state occupies a unique and sometimes controversial place in conversations about our nation’s cultural, economic, and political history, yet at the same time embodies something essential about the American experience. Today’s Texas, like America itself, is vital and diverse, a place whose rich heritage and Wild West romanticism are constantly being recombined with its modern entrepreneurial spirit. Drawing on the state’s brightest writers, scholars, and intellectuals, the engagingly written narratives of the Texas Bookshelf reveal the many fascinating stories that have played out in Texas from pre-Columbian times to the twenty-first century, and feature the many ways in which a racially diverse population was and is pivotal. In addition to Stephen Harrigan’s sweeping history Big Wonderful Thing, the series offers provocative and in-depth general interest histories of the African American experience, architecture, film, literature, the Mexican American experience, music, photography, sports, Texas politics, and theater, as well as perceptions of Texas from outside of the state.
