Texas is bigger, bolder and wackier than anywhere else in the world. We celebrate that, and this book gives you a good dose of Texas history with the wacky included. Proper history books focus on facts, but what fun is that? Here you also get the jokes, opinions, and twists on stories you know and stories you never heard before. Know about the Pig War of 1841? Know what Stanley Marcus sold on his first job at age 10? Did you know the first Hilton Hotel was in Cisco, Texas, where Santa Claus held up the downtown bank in broad daylight in 1927? How did a collie named Reveille become the mascot of Texas A&M? In spite of the less than serious tone, the history in this book is accurate. When you can’t tell the facts from the jokes, you’re in Texas. We realize you will probably read this book in a small room, by yourself, where there’s no TV and it’s rude to use the phone. That’s OK with us. Just leave the book for the next visitor, even if they’re a Yankee. That’s how friendly we are in Texas.