“Texian Macabre is one of the best books ever written about life on the Texas frontier. Stephen L. Hardin is a rare combination of scrupulous historian and high-spirited storyteller, and his account of the early days of Houston is alive with vivid characters, gruesome incidents, and mordant insights. This is a marvelous narrative from a peerless authority.”
Stephen Harrigan, author The Gates of the Alamo and Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas
“In Hardin’s fascinating Texian Macabre, readers stroll through early Texas as if they had actually been living during the time period shortly after the Texas Revolution . . . Readers of Texas history and individuals with knowledge of Houston will find this book to be mesmerizing.”
Janet K. Turek, Review of Texas Books
The folks at State House Press in Kerrville, Texas, have released a second edition of Texian Macabre: The Melancholy Tale of a Hanging in Early Texas. If one has a first edition, there is no compelling reason to acquire this one.
Still, there are differences. I examined the text and deleted “professor words” and replaced them with ones that general readers will find more familiar. Consequently, the second edition is more reader-friendly than the first.
The new edition boasts a blue dust jacket; buyers will be unable to mistake the two versions.
The most significant difference is Don Frazier’s “Publisher’s Introduction,” in which he contextualizes the book and my career. As Dr. Frazier explains:
This book deserves new, and greater, readership. That’s why we are bringing out a second edition. So those that missed the chance more than a decade and a half ago can have a crack at it.
So, if you are one of those unfortunate souls who did not “have a crack” at the book in 2007, here is your chance.
I love Texian Macabre. Of my eight books, it is my second favorite.
Check it out.
–S.L.H.