Big Wonderful Thing
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Narrated by:
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George Guidall
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By:
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Stephen Harrigan
About this listen
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 of 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.
"I couldn't believe Texas was real", the painter Georgia O'Keeffe remembered of her first encounter with the Lone Star State. It was, for her, "the same big wonderful thing that oceans and the highest mountains are."
Big Wonderful Thing invites us to walk in the footsteps of ancient as well as modern people along the path of Texas's evolution. Blending action and atmosphere with impeccable research, New York Times best-selling author Stephen Harrigan brings to life with novelistic immediacy 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.
Written in fast-paced prose, rich with personal observation and a passionate sense of place, Big Wonderful Thing calls to mind the literary spirit of Robert Hughes writing about Australia or Shelby Foote about the Civil War. Like those volumes it is a big book about a big subject, a book that dares to tell the whole glorious, gruesome, epically sprawling story of Texas.
©2019 Stephen Harrigan (P)2019 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward. Through exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country.
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Excellent!
- By Nikki on 12-22-21
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Union
- The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood
- By: Colin Woodard
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Union tells the story of the struggle to create a national myth for the United States, one that could hold its rival regional cultures together and forge an American nationhood.
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Required Reading
- By Ben Brafford on 08-30-20
By: Colin Woodard
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Dreams of El Dorado
- A History of the American West
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Matt Kugler
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In Dreams of El Dorado, H. W. Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West. He takes us from John Jacob Astor's fur trading outpost in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California gold rush to the Oklahoma land rush. He shows how the migrants' dreams drove them to feats of courage and perseverance that put their stay-at-home cousins to shame - and how those same dreams also drove them to outrageous acts of violence against indigenous peoples and one another. El Dorado was at least as elusive in the West as it ever was in the East.
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Dreadful narration
- By Fredmo on 12-09-19
By: H. W. Brands
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God's Hand on America
- Divine Providence in the Modern Era
- By: Michael Medved
- Narrated by: Michael Medved
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Has God withdrawn his special blessing from the United States? Americans ponder that painful question in troubled times, as we did during the devastation of the Civil War and after the assassinations of the '60s, and as we do in our present polarization. Yet, somehow - on battlefields, across western wilderness, and in raucous convention halls - astounding events have reliably advanced America, restoring faith in the Republic’s providential protection. In this provocative historical narrative, Michael Medved brings to life 10 haunting tales that reveal this purposeful pattern.
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Every American is so fortunate
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-20
By: Michael Medved
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The President and the Freedom Fighter
- Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America's Soul
- By: Brian Kilmeade
- Narrated by: Brian Kilmeade
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling author of George Washington's Secret Six and Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates turns to two other heroes of the nation: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In The President and the Freedom Fighter, Brian Kilmeade tells the little-known story of how two American heroes moved from strong disagreement to friendship, and in the process changed the entire course of history.
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Great Story and Research
- By Marla O'Halloran on 11-06-21
By: Brian Kilmeade
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Three Roads to the Alamo
- The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 27 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Three Roads to the Alamo is the definitive work about the lives of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis - the legendary frontiersmen and fighters who met their destiny at the Alamo in one of the most famous and tragic battles in American history - and about what really happened in that battle.
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Grandfather Dr. Death eats Applesauce on Christmas
- By McKinley L. Donnor on 07-15-20
By: William C. Davis
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Revolver
- Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter That Changed America
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Brilliantly told, Revolver brings the brazenly ambitious and profoundly innovative industrialist and leader Samuel Colt to vivid life. In the space of his 47 years, he seemingly lived five lives: He traveled, womanized, drank prodigiously, smuggled guns to Russia, bribed politicians, and supplied the Union Army with the guns they needed to win the Civil War. Colt lived during an age of promise and progress, but also of slavery, corruption, and unbridled greed, and he not only helped to create this America, he completely embodied it.
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Sam Colt, but not the Revolver
- By Eggleston on 08-01-20
By: Jim Rasenberger
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Sitting Bull
- By: Bill Yenne
- Narrated by: Bill Fike
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Sitting Bull’s name is still the best known of any American Indian leader, but his life and legacy remain shrouded with misinformation and half-truths. Sitting Bull’s life spanned the entire clash of cultures and ultimate destruction of the Plains Indian way of life. The reality of his life, as Bill Yenne reveals in his absorbing new portrait, Sitting Bull, is far more intricate and compelling. In Sitting Bull we find a man who, in the face of an uncertain future, helped ensure the survival of his people.
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Sitting Bull and his life
- By Debi on 02-24-21
By: Bill Yenne
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The Patriots
- Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Making of America
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In this masterful narrative, Winston Groom brings his signature storytelling panache to the tale of our nation's most fascinating founding fathers - Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams - painting a vivid picture of the improbable events, bold ideas, and extraordinary characters who created the United States of America.
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For newbies or history buffs
- By SBR72 on 06-06-21
By: Winston Groom
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The Texas Rangers
- Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900
- By: Mike Cox
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Mike Cox, journalist and Texas Ranger grand master, recounts enthralling tales of men who proudly wore the silver Lone Star - once hand-carved from the Mexican five peso. Whether facing Indians, banditos, or Yankees, TexasRangers earned a reputation for being some of the most formidable lawmen in U.S. history.
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Like reading case reports
- By Planetary Defense Commander on 02-16-12
By: Mike Cox
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Dodge City
- Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels, and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.
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The Real Life Story of Dodge City
- By Jean on 03-26-17
By: Tom Clavin
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Hymns of the Republic
- The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of that era’s most compelling narratives, defining the nation and one of history’s great turning points. Now, S.C. Gwynne’s Hymns of the Republic addresses the time Ulysses S. Grant arrives to take command of all Union armies in March 1864 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox a year later. He breathes new life into the epic battle between Lee and Grant; the advent of 180,000 black soldiers in the Union army; Sherman’s March to the Sea; the rise of Clara Barton; and much more.
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Questionable
- By Stafford Lewis on 05-16-20
By: S. C. Gwynne
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Big, Sordid, Fascinating, PoliticallyCorrect
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The Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going - one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In Cult of Glory, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors, and officially sanctioned killers.
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Gone to Texas engagingly tells the story of the Lone Star State, from the arrival of humans in the Panhandle more than 10,000 years ago to the opening of the 21st Century. Focusing on the state's successive waves of immigrants, the audiobook offers an inclusive view of the vast array of Texans who, often in conflict with each other and always in a struggle with the land, created a history and an idea of Texas.
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Good history from year zero through about 1962
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personal memoir no plot
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Top -10
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Hard Country lives up to it's title.
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New York Times best-selling author Eric Flint has received glowing critical praise for his Ring of Fire alternate history series. In this first installment, a West Virginia town is transported from the year 2000 to 1631 Germany at the height of the Thirty Years’ War. Thrust into conflict, the town residents must also contend with moral issues such as who should be considered a citizen.
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NOT ALL THAT BAD
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In this classic from the Lone Star State, John Graves learns that the river he knew and loved as a youth, the Brazos in north-central Texas, is slated to be dammed at multiple points - and he understands that things will never be the same. Goodbye to a River is a poignant narrative of one man's journey by canoe down the river of his memories. Along the way, he describes the colorful Texas landscape and recounts its rich history.
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Undoubtedly a great piece of American literature
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From the horseback days of the Old West through the gangster days of the 1930s, Hamer stood on the front lines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. He participated in the Bandit War of 1915, survived the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, battled the Mexican Revolution's spillover across the border, protected African Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, and ran down gangsters, bootleggers, and Communists.
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As a Japanese-American fisherman stands trial for murder on an island in Puget Sound, snow blankets the countryside. The whiteness covers the courthouse, but it cannot conceal the memories at work inside: the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, an unrequited love, and the ghosts of racism that still haunt the islanders. First novels rarely attract as much attention as Snow Falling on Cedars. Remaining on best seller lists for months, it has cast a spell on listeners across the country.
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Beautiful!!!
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What listeners say about Big Wonderful Thing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Craig C.
- 03-03-23
Should be the textbook that 7th graders should read
If this were the textbook for Texas History, students would be better informed about Texas. The Texas Legislature would probably ban it because it doesn’t perpetuate the heroic Anglo myths. Maybe, some chapters could be excerpted for additional reading assignments on particular topics. It tells a story of Texas with many of its warts included. Entertaining and nicely read.
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2 people found this helpful
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- TJ
- 03-31-23
Simply outstanding.
Seriously, good. Really wonderfully read. Awfully picturesque in the descriptions and the relating of the stories.
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2 people found this helpful
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- TylerWSlawson
- 02-07-23
Amazing!
Thorough, intriguing, and engaging! This is a great work of writing. I appreciated the vastness of the writing like the vastness of its subject. The narrator gave a stellar performance, causing me to laugh and to cry. At 29 hours, it is a journey, but one worth taking (especially if you live here!).
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-12-23
The facts without the sugarcoating
I was interested in a version of Texas history that I didn't learn in school, and that's what I got. Well worth the listen, as only George Guidall can tell it (except for the mispronunciation of Kleberg). Fascinating insights into people previously known only as heroes.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jim Walsh
- 01-16-22
Texas history through storytelling
Loved this big book. The size of it intimidated me but once I started I found it an easy and enjoyable read. It’s all stories rather than dry history. Stories and profiles of a vast array of colorful characters. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, just pick a chapter. I’ve lived in Texas for 55 years and have an irrational love for the place. I sense the same in Harrigan.
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- Samuel Stephen Ross
- 10-01-20
Just wonderful! I didn't want it to end.
I had no idea what I was in for, but the confluence of Harrigan's writing and Guidall's voice is immediately mesmerizing. Mr. Harrigan made me love heroes and villains and even inanimate trees, escarpments, and old bones. He has a genius for pulling the right word like an arrow out of his vast lexicon quiver to impact everything; perfectly do-se-doing between colloquial terms, fifty cent words, and even words hitherto never written like "Fergusonian". The most magical thing Mr. Harrigan has done with this book about Texas however is he has somehow managed to make me feel as if both he and the I are discovering all of it at the same time. in other words, not only are Sam Houston, Cynthia Ann Parker, and Ann Richards "characters" in this book, our dear author is indeed a character himself; as awe-struck as Huck Finn as he navigates this river of time past characters/events. It's a long journey, but I encourage you to come along with Mr. Harrigan. I remember asking a host at a busy restaurant if it was worth the wait. She said "We ain't busy for nothin', darlin'". Well reader, this book ain't long for nothin' either. Enjoy!
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3 people found this helpful
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- D. Rice
- 05-14-20
Like oceans and the highest mountains...
This 28-hour compelling history of Texas is so well formulated, so craftily organized, so beautifully written, and so expertly performed that finishing it is like parting with an old friend. Since I was transplanted in Texas from Ohio as an adult, I never knew the depth and breadth of this state’s story. Now, hearing such a big, wonderful recounting as a senior citizen, I am bowled over. Having George Guidall read to me is icing on the cake.
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- Elizabeth
- 12-22-19
Guidall is in top form with very good material
The book is full of interesting information and it is written well and is engaging listening. Guildall could read a telephone book and make that interesting..so given this good a book to read it is all very pleasant. You just sort of have to let some of the Austin liberal loony jibes pass you by and it is time well spent
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5 people found this helpful
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- Gina K.
- 02-11-20
It was indeed "Wonderful."
Great listen. Anyone who lives in the Lone Star State should find it fascinating. George's narration is great as always.
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- R. H. Kaige
- 08-09-22
exceptional overview of Texas history
Ties the past to the present. There is humor and tragedy in these chapters.
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