In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Texas Monthly, a collection of original essays and portraits of fifty groundbreaking Texans who have shaped the Lone Star State—and the nation—over the past half century.

With a population of twenty-nine million, Texas has birthed some of America’s most innovative, culture-altering politicians, entertainers, athletes, and activists of the last five decades. In Lone Stars Rising, the editors of Texas Monthly select fifty of the most trailblazing Texans who have shaped the Lone Star State and America today.

Organized by decade and featuring essays from the magazine’s legendary roster of contributors, accompanied by drawings and fifty photographs throughout, this collection includes incisive commentary on the stars whose rise from Texas to the world stage has been meteoric, as well as the lesser-known individuals who have been toiling on the sidelines, quietly and intentionally shaping the way we think and talk about the Texas that exists today.

Coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of Texas Monthly, Lone Stars Rising is the quintessential ode to the Lone Star State in all its complexity.