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Title: Lone Star Rising by William C. Davis ISBN: 0-684-86510-6 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Clay Feet?
Comment: Anyone who has read Davis' "Three Roads to the Alamo" will already be aware that the author sees heavy tarnish on the image of Texas icon Sam Houston; after reading this volume, one is tempted to take a closer look at the (much) larger than life statue of Houston hard by I-45 at Huntsville to see if Houston really had such distinct clay feet. In fact, Davis seems wont to emphasize the shortcomings of all the Texas founding fathers as opposed to their familiar school-textbook heroics. Deaf Smith gets the most sympathetic treatment, since he isn't mentioned at all.
That said, the book is a good read to anyone wanting to fill in some interesting details in the oft-told stories of Texas' early struggles. It's not "Three Roads", but it deserves a place on the shelf near that earlier work.
Rating: 5
Summary: This book is a surprise Gem!
Comment: I am one of those many people who read everything related to the Alamo. When I first saw this book I was puzzled as to why I had never heard of it. After reading it I am more puzzled. This is a great book. It has obviously not been promoted. I have no doubt that it will soon grow in popularity as those few of us who stumble across it will be telling our friends about this incredible find.
This book fills an important historical gap: Texas from 1800 to 1836. While many books touch on this period I know of none that focus on it. Three Roads to the Alamo, and various biographies of Austin and Houston certainly touch on pre-Alamo Texas, but none with the historical sweep and detail of this book.
Several examples will give you an idea of what is covered in this book, much of which I learned for the first time. Most knowledgeable readers know that the Louisiana Purchase was basically the transfer of a large chunk of Spanish, not French, land in North America to Jefferson's young nation. But this book shows how that purchase created a great deal of confusion in Texas as the US initially claimed the Louisiana Purchase extended to the Rio Grande. This uncertainty, and the power vacuum left by weakened Royalists in Mexico from 1800 to 1824, accounted for the filibusters, piracy, and tremendous unrest in Texas. These are described in detail along with the other factors that caused the population of Texas to decline, between 1800 and 1824, from 4000 to 2500.
Only after the Mexican Constitution of 1824 was written was there even a legal basis upon which Austin could found his colony. This book does an incredible job of showing how Texians played off the US, Mexico, and Spain. Although Spain failed to reconquer Mexico in 1829, the cost and political stress of that war had a profound impact on Texas as the federalist Mexican constitution of 1824 was slowly replaced by a new centrism headed by the former hero of federalism, Santa Anna.
The book also provided me an in depth feel for the changing relationship between Texians and Tejanos. Tejanos wanted freedom as much as the Texians but they were much more fearful of reprisal from Mexico. Tejanos regarded the conventions held by Texians as being illegal and almost treasonous, so they voiced the exact same complaints about wanting Texas to become a state, but they did them through resolutions passed at City Council meetings. The love hate-relationship of Texians and Tejanos with their legislature in the Capital at Saltillo, and the political divisions in Coahuila is absolutely fascinating
If you read Alamo books in order to get the same feeling we have when we see reruns of Alamo movies every week on cable TV, this book is not for you. It does not focus of heroism. This is much more about history than personality. Much to my relief this was not a politically correct book about evil Anglo racists. Bowie and Travis, in the context of the facts presented, are seen as somewhat immature and self-centered individuals who quickly matured and rose to the challenge of their times. Houston is seen as a late entrant in the Texas saga. Austin is the big winner in this version of Texas history as he is shown to be the one indispensable man around whom all Texians followed and respected from 1824 to 1835.
If you love reading history books that introduce you to new facts and ideas, you won't put this book down. I didn't. By putting the Alamo in the context of the times, this book will make you appreciate even more the courage of those who stood for freedom.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not Bad
Comment: If you MUST have EVERY book on the Alamo and the Texas Revolution, then you'll probably buy this one. But what mystifies me is, WHY ANOTHER ALAMO BOOK ? It seems like we've had an explosion of tomes on the historic seige of that crumbling adobe church. And each book repeats the same facts and lore. Unless some forgotten or rediscovered documents surfaces, I can't see writing another volume on the subject. Davis did an outstanding job with THREE ROADS TO THE ALAMO and that one is well worth having. THREE ROADS goes into MUCH MORE detail and covers more ground, thus my high praise for that work. But with LONE STAR RISING, its more like he's just cranking out another one to make some extra pocket change. Been there, done that, now let's move on please.
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Title: Lone Star Nation : How a Ragged Army of Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence - andChanged America by H.W. BRANDS ISBN: 0385507372 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 10 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Sacrificed at the Alamo: Tragedy and Triumph in the Texas Revolution (Military History of Texas Series, No. 3) by Richard Bruce Winders ISBN: 1880510804 Publisher: State House Pr Pub. Date: March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions by Thomas Ricks Lindley, Stephen Harrigan ISBN: 1556229836 Publisher: Republic of Texas Press Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Alamo Reader: A Study in History by Todd Hansen ISBN: 0811700607 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $36.95 |
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Title: Eighteen Minutes: The Battle of San Jacinto and the Texas Independence Campaign by Stephen L. Moore ISBN: 1589070097 Publisher: Republic of Texas Press Pub. Date: January, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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