Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Book!.......2007-09-23
This is an excellent tail of history and the battle of the Alamo.
I recommend this to all and kids studying Texas history and the Alamo.
Well written and captures your interest.
Diary of a Texas Pioneer Girl.......2006-12-14
Sherry Garland's forefathers settled in Texas when it was a Republic (1836-1845). Garland wrote this novel to tell what it would be like for a young girl living at the time of the Alamo. Garland has written twenty-five books and received numerous awards and honors. The novel is written as a diary covering the days from September 9, 1835 to April 24, 1836. The `Epilogue' tells of the later lives of the characters. The `Historical Notes' tells of the settlement of Texas. The Spanish built missions in Texas between 1670 and 1793.
In 1821 Mexico declared its independence from Spain. The new Republic of Mexico welcomed Americans to settle in areas of Texas where Indians predominated. These colonists had to pass tests to legally settle in the lands. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 was similar to the US Constitution. But the aristocracy and the rich objected to democratic rule. They convinced Santa Anna to overthrow the democratic government and set up a dictatorship that would tax and oppress the people. [There were many reoccurrences of this in South American history. America avoided these problems with its "well-regulated militia", a small standing army, and a law of division to break up aristocratic wealth.] The state of Zacatecas first fought Santa Anna but lost, and their militia was exterminated. The state of Texas also fought; they were far off from the Mexican government, and their Second Amendment experience and history gave them better odds. They lost the first battles, but under the leadership of Sam Houston won the Battle of San Jacinto. Houston wisely extracted a peace treaty that recognized Texas independence as the price for releasing Santa Anna to return to Mexico with his armed guards. The "Napoleon of the West" met his Waterloo. The Republic of Texas encouraged immigrants from Europe to settle there, much as the Mexicans had earlier encouraged immigrants from America. They fled the aristocratic despotism of Europe.
This novel is based on the known facts, and can entertain and educate the readers. It is not a substitute for a real history book, but official history seldom tells you about daily life for ordinary people. A historian may note some information that isn't accurate. James Michener wrote a much longer book about "Texas" that you may read; it covers much more in Texas history.
the alamo.......2006-08-12
one of the reviews complained that the book was mislabeled, because it didn't take place in the alamo. while that is true, the alamo is a central point throughout the plot.
i definitely learned a lot from this book, because while everyone knows "remember the alamo," no one knows what the alamo actually was (at least in my experience). as a novel, however, the book was less than a masterpiece. it emphasized the bravery of those who fought for texas, which was a good thing to point out, and i also liked that the main character was just an ordinary girl caught up in what was happening. but lucinda was a pretty boring character - in fact, pretty much all of the characters were very two-dimensional. the plot was also boring at times. while it informed me, it did not move me. i especially disliked that the runaway scrape - when lucinda and the rest of her town had to leave their homes behind in a desperate retreat - was barely described, when it should have depicted the miserableness of the refugees and their conditions. at one point, lucinda tells us she has had an eye condition and now is blind in one eye. she says it matter-of-factly in just one sentence, and i think if someone lost half their eyesight they would be a little morre distraught. i didn't really enjoy reading the book, though i don't regret reading it either. it was just OK.
Alamo Diary Opened My Mind.......2006-06-01
What a fun read! I was not too enthusiastic about this book but I gave it a try anyway. I'm glad I did! Wall-to-wall action and relevant description abound in this story about a misunderstood historical period. I read this a few years ago and I still remember how good it was. Recently I read another book about the Alamo, and it makes me appriciate how well-written this one is. I don't agree that the action is sparse; if it was, I wouldn't have finished it.
Great.......2005-11-06
The story of the Alamo is one of my favorites. So when I found this book I was thrilled. This was a very well written story that brought out the longing of ever girls heart. I think that it is a must read!!
Amazon.com
Ever since the day in March 1836 when an obscure Spanish mission in Texas fell to Mexican forces led by President Santa Anna, Americans have been exhorted to "remember the Alamo." And remember it we do--primarily as the place where American folk legends Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis met their end fighting for Texas independence. Though it is primarily the Alamo we remember today, the battle itself takes up just a few pages of William C. Davis's Three Roads to the Alamo; Davis is far more interested in what brought three such disparate men as Crockett, Bowie, and Travis to Texas in the first place than in how they died there. As any schoolchild knows, Davy Crockett was the "king of the wild frontier," a bona fide folk hero in his own time who rode his legend to political office first in Tennessee and then as a United States congressman. Bowie was both less well known and less heroic--a land speculator not above resorting to fraud and forgery to get what he wanted, while William Travis, the youngest of the three, brought little but potential with him to Texas.
Davis does a good job of illuminating both the personalities of his subjects and the situation in which they found themselves in Texas. He thoroughly explores the lives of these three men--their successes, their failures, their hopes for the future--and lays out the arguments for and against Texan independence from Mexico in which they found themselves embroiled. By the time Crockett, Bowie, and Travis finally arrive at the Alamo, it seems the inevitable conclusion to the roads they each have been traveling over the course of their lifetimes. Three Roads to the Alamo is a fine piece of historical research and an entertaining read, as well.
Book Description
Three Roads to the Alamo is the definitive book 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.
Customer Reviews:
Three legends revealed.......2006-12-14
This book is a very well conceived idea that tries to understand what happened at the Alamo through the eyes of three people. Each provides a different perspective to life in Texas and life in the United States in the time period leading up to the Alamo. A crook like Bowie has fled from land speculations schemes and is trying to make a name for himself in Texas. Travis has abandoned his family and gone to make an honest life and escape the debt he built up. Finally we have David Corckett the hero of Tennessee who has lost elections and patience with Andrew Jackson heading to Texas. All of these three have led colorful lives with Crockett being the most interesting. This book serves as a biography to all three while describing the importance of the Alamo to Texas. It is very well done and you find yourself going through the book very quickly. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in understanding what life looked like in the United States in the years leading up to the Alamo.
Glimpse behind the glory.......2006-10-23
William Davis, best known for his excellent works on the American War Between the States (oh, alright, "Civil War" if you insist) delves into the Texas Revolution with this work, and presents historians with an excellent glimpse at the three principal figures of the Alamo Siege. This triple biography gives an excellent in-depth look at the careers, motivations, and personal lives of three men on their march to an appointment with destiny.
I highly recommend all of Mr. Davis' works, especially "Deep Waters of the Proud" and "Look Away!"
Depends on what you're looking for.......2006-07-14
Davis is meticulous in his research, teasing from the legends what we know, what can be deduced, what is probable, improbable, and impossible. So, if you want scholarship, an in-depth understanding of the truth, as near as it can be determined, this book is great.
Davis' sketches of the personalities and characters of Crockett, Bowie and Travis were also impressive.
But, IMO, if you want a wallopping page-turner, look elsewhere.
One Road Too Few.......2006-03-27
OK, that is a bit of a negative title, so I want to start off saying that I really enjoyed this book. One of the problems with the story of the Alamo is that it all too often is isolated in the time during the battle and not much of the events and lives of the participants are ever explored. This leaves a story disconnected from all that ran up to it, all that caused it.
William C. Davis does an admirable job assembling the lives of three people who are somewhat elusive in the historical record until their "big day" at the Alamo (even Crocket has his blank spots in his history). It is important info that informs us all why these men were "that" Travis, Crocket and Bowie.
He gives them life in a narrative that quickly moves in a conversational style. Further, he does an admirable job not judging these men on today's more "civilized" standards, allowing us to come to know the men as they were, in their day, without being weighed down by modern approbations and regrettable "social" historical analysis so popular with too many historians.
Now the criticism: As my little review title suggests I feel that there was one road, one equally important, not explored that led to the Alamo. It is a road that is just as important as the other roads Davis explores; that of Travis, Crocket, and Bowie.
It is a road without which the Alamo would not have occurred, propelling the three heroes into American mythology. It is the road traveled by Santa Anna.
Of course, at 587 pages, this tome is already a bit larger than the average popular treatment of any particular historical event and it is probable that Davis struggled to keep the story under one thousand! Still, Santa Anna's journey was just as tumultuous, interesting and central to the story as Travis, Crocket, and Bowie's, and just as important.
Davis admits that he started with the idea of a Bowie bio, so it isn't surprising that he dwelled on Bowie more so than the other two. But, given the re-direction he took with his story a little less on Bowie could have sufficed as the story of Santa Anna was included.
After reading the book, I felt a hole in the story. Why, exactly, did the Mexicans do all they did? Not just during the months preceding the Alamo, but for the decade before. How did Santa Anna get to his position? What drove him to lay siege to the Alamo and that small band of Norteamericanos? I know Santa Anna is not the American hero that the other three are, but where is the hero without the villain?
In any case. This book is highly recommended for anyone wanting a well researched story of the actions and personalities that led up to the Alamo. Even with that one small detraction, I say read it!
By Warner Todd Huston
The Honored Dead.......2006-02-02
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Author William C. Davis does not follow this advise and gives us the true story of these three icons of Texas. We find that aside from Crockett's three successful congressional campaigns and Travis' legal practice in Texas, these heroes were not very successful nor particularly honorable as that term is defined today. Bowie was an unsuccessful con artist who married his Tejano wife for her money and connections, Travis abandoned his pregnant wife in Alabama to evade a warrant for his arrest for debt, and Crockett was long estranged from his second wife at the time of his death. They were not exactly paragons of virtue but in the manner of their deaths they were and are heroes and that should not be forgotten, and Davis does not forget this. I am reminded of a line from another movie, Casablanca, in which Humphrey Bogart says, "They got a lucky break. Yesterday they were just two German clerks. Today they're the 'Honored Dead'." Bowie, Crockett and Travis are Texas' Honored Dead.
Average customer rating:
- Intense and compelling
- An absorbing, powerful epic novel
- A novel filled with dread, ghastly events, and remorse
- All Students of Texas History should read this book
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Promised Lands: A Novel of the Texas Rebellion (Southwest Life and Letters)
Elizabeth Crook
Manufacturer: Southern Methodist University Press
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The Raven's Bride (Southwest Life and Letters)
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ASIN: 0870743856 |
Book Description
Elizabeth Crook's vast yet intimate novel of the Texas Revolution takes us beyond the traditional setpieces of the Alamo and San Jacinto to the other places where the war was fought--to the forest traces and prairies and Gulf Coast beaches, and to the hearts of the novel's vibrant characters. Among them: Domingo de la Rosa--the great Tejano ranchero, implacable and devout, for whom the fight against the Anglo "heretics" is nothing less than a holy war. Hugh Kenner--a physician whose son has run away to the war. Hugh will discover the heroic strength of his compassion, and also its brutal cost. Katie Kenner--Hugh's restless daughter, a refugee caught up in the massive human stampede known as The Runaway Scrape, who finds herself in love with a foreigner and responsible for the life of an orphan baby. Adelaido Pacheco--a dashing tobacco smuggler loyal to no cause but his own, a man without a country and in peril of becoming a man without a soul. Crucita Pacheco--Adelaido's beautiful sister who has lost her family, all but Adelaido, in the cholera epidemic of 1832. Feeling that God has forsaken her, she enters Domingo de la Rosa's employ as a spy against the Anglo rebels, and discovers an improbable love. Through these people and others, Promised Lands brings a myth-encrusted chapter of American history to authentic life. Elizabeth Crook demonstrates once again a stunning command of her period and a passionate regard for her characters. Promised Lands bears the hallmark of a master novelist: a grand vision, rendered on an unforgettably human scale.
Customer Reviews:
Intense and compelling.......2007-09-21
Elizabeth Crook's novel, Promised Lands captivated me. Her research so accurate and her characterization so poignant that I feel like I lived the times with these people. And though Fannin's indecision, the subsequent cause of his downfall, stings the Texan,history is never made up of simple infallible characters. My imagination was so piqued, I revisited Goliad after reading the book. Reading Ms. Crook's novel illuminates the past and it is beautifully written. And outstanding work and yes,a must for every student of Texas history.
An absorbing, powerful epic novel.......2007-04-09
I'm not a Texas history buff but this story is fascinating. It captured my interest right at the beginning and picked up steam all the way to the end. It has everything you want in historical fiction: romance, humor, violence, tragedy, and characters you care about. It has funny scenes and extremely amusing dialogue mixed in with the tragedy. It's also beautifully written. There are two or three plot lines in the beginning but I was happy to go from one to another as they all interested me, and as they came together fairly quickly. If you're looking for a great epic, this is a perfect selection. It's not light reading, but enriching and satisfying. Highly recommended.
A novel filled with dread, ghastly events, and remorse.......2006-09-01
Promised Lands, by Austin author Elizabeth Crook, is a grim novel about grim people caught up in one of the grimmest incidents in Texas history, the Goliad Massacre of 1836. And did I mention that the book is grim?
In following two families as their fate puts them on a collision course with history, Promised Lands is based on a time-honored premise for historical fiction. But Crook, who showed her skill in writing about emotionally damaged people in her earlier novel The Raven's Bride, does not settle for easy cliches about high-spirited women and two-fisted men. The characters in Promised Lands are extraordinarly complex and finely drawn. On the Anglo side of the divide, we follow the Kenner family, particularly dad Hugh, a doctor who has given up practice; daughter Katie, a young woman who yearns to feel needed; and son Toby, a bespectacled boy who wants nothing more than to prove himself. On the Tejano side, we follow the brother-sister pair of Adelaido, an arrogant young caballero, and Crucita, an introspective seamstress whose kindness tears her between love and loyalty.
One of the problems in Promised Lands is the number of characters. Besides the five primary characters mentioned above, there are a half-dozen more point-of-view characters, all with complex motivations, back stories, and emotional baggage. I think that because of the large cast, the story never achieves much momentum. I felt I had to press a mental "Reset" at the beginning of every chapter to follow someone new. Even within a chapter, there is some "head jumping" to include the thoughts and motivations of even minor characters. While the writing is skillfully handled, I got frustrated after a while. This novel is stuffed with enough characters and ideas for three novels. I wish Crook had done some cutting and perhaps refocused the novel on just a few characters. For example, it would have been interesting to see what she did with a book that followed just Katie, Crucita, and Toby, allowing us to see the others only through their eyes.
I also became weary of the depression that enshrouded most of the characters. While I didn't expect a rollicking good time with a book on the Goliad Massacre, I think the novel might have been improved with if the characters had been more varied. Several of these folks were significantly traumatized before the novel even began. A couple of smart-alecks would have provided some much-needed relief for the reader and maybe even have added some good interpersonal conflict to the story.
All Students of Texas History should read this book.......1996-12-29
Very readable book about the Texas War of Independence with Mexico. Although a fictional book, it accurately shows the real issues in the Texas War. The "heros" of the Texas Revolution such as Fannin and Bowie were shown to be men who made serious mistakes in the war. Some of the issues surrounding the "war" such as slavery were documented. While I have read several books on Texas History, this book brings out new information and facts through the fictional setting. The horror of Goliad was accurately protrayed in this book. This is truly a book that is hard to put down once it has been started. There are touches of Jean Auel in the author's writing style. It is obviously a well researched book that even documents in detail the early use of "natural" medicines
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Remember the Alamo: The Runaway Scrape Diary of Belle Wood : Austin's Colony, Texas 1835-1836 (Rogers, Lisa Waller, Lone Star Journals, Bk. 3.)
Lisa Waller Rogers
Manufacturer: Texas Tech University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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Get Along, Little Dogies: The Chisholm Trail Diary of Hallie Lou Wells : South Texas, 1878 (Rogers, Lisa Waller, Lone Star Journals, Bk. 1.)
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The Great Storm: The Hurricane Diary of J. T. King, Galveston, Texas, 1900 (Lone Star Journals, 2)
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A Line in the Sand: the Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas 1836 (Dear America Series)
ASIN: 0896724972 |
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Read.......2005-03-08
I enjoyed this book a lot because it really showed what life was like during the Texas revolution. It was about a young girl named Belle Wood who must endure the hardships of the war against Mexico and the perilous Runaway Scrape. It sucks the reader in with its suspense and does a very good job of giving you all of the true facts of the Texas Revolution. I would definently reccomend this book to young and old readers alike. It was wonderful!
Book Description
Los Alamos, New Mexico, birthplace of the Atomic Age, is the community that revolutionized modern weaponry and science. An "instant city," created in 1943, Los Alamos quickly grew to accommodate six thousand people--scientists and experts who came to work in the top-secret laboratories, others drawn by jobs in support industries, and the families. How these people, as a community, faced both the fevered rush to create an atomic bomb and the intensity of the subsequent cold-war era is the focus of Jon Hunner's fascinating narrative history.
Much has been written about scientific developments at Los Alamos, but until this book little has been said about the community that fostered them. Using government records and the personal accounts of early residents, Inventing Los Alamos, traces the evolution of the town during its first fifteen years as home to a national laboratory and documents the town's creation, the lives of the families who lived there, and the impact of this small community on the Atomic Age.
Customer Reviews:
An in-depth survey of the community which grew from a political and scientific objective........2007-10-06
INVENTING LOS ALAMOS: THE GROWTH OF AN ATOMIC COMMUNITY provides a powerful social history of Los Alamos, the birthplace of the Atomic Age. It began as an 'instant city' created in 1943 for this purpose but came to accommodate scientists and over 6,000 residents brought in to achieve a goal. Most books focus on science: this provides urban studies collections with more: an in-depth survey of the community which grew from a political and scientific objective.
perceptive cultural study.......2005-04-11
I was at Los Alamos in 1988, 31 years after the period covered by the book. Yet there were still clearly common attributes of the town's culture, than spanned those intervening years. The scientific elite of the town in both 1988 and in the book's period, had an insularity. Bred in part perhaps by the sheer intellectual fascination of the problems they were working on. And which they could not explain to outsiders.
But the book also explores the working class sections of the town. A group often overlooked in other "official" histories. It explains informal demarcations of the time, in the social mixing.
A further nuance was not just class but ethnicity. New Mexico was and is a relatively poor, rural American state. Many of the locals were Hispanics, trying to scratch out a living on poor soils. So the lab was always able to find a plentiful labour force. Which had some resentments against the elite, often Anglo scientists. In 1988, this was perhaps not as pronounced. But still present.
A Social History of an Instant Town.......2005-01-19
From a remote, very remote ranch in the mountains of New Mexico, Los Alamos became an instant city in 1943 as it grew to six thousand people, among them the best physical scientists from around the world. With them came thousands of other workers, and their families. Los Alamos became the birthplace of the Atomic Age as it revolutionized modern weaponry and science.
Rather than being exclusively scientific - as are a number of other books -- Inventing Los Alamos concentrates on the people. It uses the oral history point of view to create a social history of the people and the culture that developed.
The book covers not only the early World War II days of developing the Atomic bomb, but also the Cold War Era, and even a short section on the work being conducted at the site now.
This is a most interesting account of the side effects of the scientific work done there.
Birthplace of the Atomic Age.......2004-11-08
This is a great book for anyone remotely interested in the development of America's nuclear program and especially the city known as the birthplace of the Atomic Age. What makes the book unique is both the reader friendly narrative style of the writing and the author's focusing on the establishment of the town and men and women that created a livable community out of wartime chaos while confronting the myriad of social and cultural issues of the Atomic Age prior to the rest of the country...or world. A fresh look at the development of the Atomic Age culture.
Book Description
Forever linked with World War II and Americas entrance into the Atomic Age, Los Alamos was a small ranching community and the site of an exclusive boys school until 1943. As the Manhattan Project unfolded, Pvt. J.J. Michnoviczfirst assigned to Los Alamos as a photographer by the military but later working as a civilianrecorded the everyday spirit of the people and the events that shaped this mountain town into a home . . . and secret scientific hotbed. This comprehensive view of the social and professional world of Los Alamos is the photographic journal of a singular period, as seen through the eyes of one soldier.
Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program.
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Life at the Alamo (Picture the Past)
Sally Senzell Isaacs
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Books:
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- Adventures Beyond the Body: How to Experience Out-of-Body Travel
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- America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones
- An Introduction to Policing
- Aztec
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