Texas

I recently read Texas, a historical novel by James. A Michener (1985).  "Recently" may be a bit misleading.  Since the book was 1076 pages long, I did, in fact, finish it recently, but started it quite some time back. ;-)

This novel traces the history of Texas from its first inhabitants up through the early 1980s.  JM taught me quite a lot about Texas history that I didn't learn in school.  The work maps the earliest efforts at settling by the Spaniard, then takes us through the advent of nationhood, statehood, the Civil War, cotton king status, ranching, oil, and, of course, Texas high school football.  JM weaves all these themes into the tale by tracing several generations of a few founding families. 

A good work.  I'm glad I read it.  If you decide to read it, set aside some time.