Rating: 
Summary: The Gates of the Alamo
Review: A mostly excellent, obviously well-researched historical novel, though it gets off to a somewhat slow start.The book's centerpiece, the battle of the Alamo, is -- once you finally get to it -- extremely effective and compelling. Because of Harrigan's approach to laying the historical background and developing his fictional characters, the novel does get off to a rather slow start. I did have a couple of my personal quibbles. First, I'd hoped and expected -- largely because of the book's sheer length -- for a bit more of an epic look at the whole Texas Revolution. Instead, the battle of Gonzales barely gets mentioned, the first siege of San Antonio happens offstage and the reader only encounters the aftermath -- albeit very effectively presented -- of Goliad. (The battle of San Jacinto is also given fairly brisk treatment, but that's not wholly inappropriate, given that it was a quite brief battle.) I don't think this should deter anyone from reading the book;I mention it mainly because knowing this in advance might head off any disappointment with the novel's scope. My second quibble is that I really felt Harrigan was much too negative in his depiction of one of it's nonfictional characters: Sam Houston. I think Houston was a smarter and braver man than depicted in this book (though I admit it probably gets his degree of personal vanity about right).
Rating: 
Summary: Gates of the Alamo
Review: Along with The Holy Sabbath Morning by Bob W Dunbar (actually I think it does just about beat Dunbars novel into second place because of this novel's epic scope, and I didn't think that would be possible), this is the novel I have most enjoyed concerning the Alamo (and the Texas War of Independance). I myself am planning to write a novel about this very same period, but from a different angle and I hope it will be as good! This novel is wonderfully evocative of both time and place and the author has obviously done his research. Yet at the same time there is a very strong plot and well rounded characters. He refuses to take side in the conflict (Mexican versus Texian!)and presents an objective viewpoint - letting the characters - both historical and fictional speak for themselves. I have learnt a lot just by reading this novel, yet have been thoroughly entertained as well. The author obviously has a great knowledge of the times, and of diverse other subjects as well - including botany! An interesting caste of characters feature the historical ones of Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett & Travis vs Santa Anna, the fictional characters of Edward McGowan (the botanist!) and Mary Mott (and the subtle relationship which develops between them), and of course Mary's son Terrell whose first experience of love leads him to war. This book is a great page turner and the plot keeps you in suspense until the climactice finale (the Alamo!). I rate this book five stars and would thoroughly recommend it as THE NOVEL on the Alamo!
Rating:
Summary: Open The Gates!
Review: Harrigan paints a haunting portrait depicting the effect the historical events leading up to the fall of the Alamo, had upon the inhabitans of Texas at that time. Although fictional, "The Gates of The Alamo" is obviously well researched, and presented in a glittering setting of historical accuracy.
Rating:
Summary: Open The Gates
Review: Harrigan offers a haunting painting, depicting the effect the historical events leading up to, and surrounding the fall of the Alamo had on the inhabitants of Texas during that time. This work is obviously well researched, and presented in a setting of glittering historical accuracy.
Rating: 
Summary: Pointless but well written
Review: I don't know what the point of this book was except maybe to humanize the Texans at the Alamo, and the Mexicans who fought them. The author does a very good job of that, and creates scenes very well. But he relies too much on violence to shock you, and it's a lot like a spaghetti Western---sure, we know people bleed and die, but must our noses be rubbed in it every other chapter? Surely Texans MUST have taken some time out to laugh and play and tell jokes, even during the Mexican invasion!At the end of the book I felt empty, as if I'd just done a lot of ditch digging and couldn't find a beer to cool me down! This could never be made into a movie: the main character is not appealling or strong, as main characters go. He doesn't even get to consummate things with his girlfriend!
Rating:
Summary: Travels in Time
Review: I had not found a book to compare to "Lonesome Dove" until this year. Suddenly, two came into the stores: "Borderland" and "Gates of the Alamo". The reader doesn't have to be familiar with Texas history (which is truly unique among the 50 states), but only needs to have time for a book that reads well from cover to cover. Don't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful prose... vividly drawn
Review: Best book of the year and quite possibly the last decade. Nothing this rich has hit the literary landscape since Lonesome Dove.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, Thought-Provoking Novel
Review: This is a good, absorbing novel about the Alamo. The central character is Terrell Mott, the son of Mary Mott, another main character. The third main characer is Edmund McGowan, a naturalist who Mary meets and becomes involved with up to a point. The story begins and ends with Terrell being the guest of honor, as the last surviving man who was at the Alamo, at the Battle of Flowers in 1911. The suggestion that there was at least one survivor is one of several unconventional ideas Harrigan presents about the battle. Another novel suggestion is that there was a body of 150 or so men who came from Goliad to join the defenders at the Alamo. The thought is that these were the advance cavalrymen who Fannin sent when he began his aborted rescue mission. Harrigan's suggestion is based on recent evidence that about 70 of these men made it into the Alamo, so that around 250 defenders died instead of the traditional 180 or so. The novel draws good portraits of key historical persons involved in the battle, such as William Barret Travis, the commander of the Texans. The novel does not include a scene in which Travis draws a line and asks the defenders to cross it--in a note at the end of the novel, Harrigan suggests that there is virtually no possibility that this happened. Harrigan portrays Travis as a hothead whose sense of honor needlessly cost of the lives of the defenders for no good reason. Contrary to the conclusion that many scholars have reached, Harrigan portrays Davy Crockett as having died honorably. According to Harrigan's account, there was a group of people who were captured and subsequently executed, but Crockett was not one of them. Harrigan portrays Crockett as being first and foremost a politician, which was not necessarily bad--Harrigan's Crockett reaches out to people, keeps up their spirits, and interjects a sense of humor into what was a very grim situation. Jim Bowie became seriously ill before the actual battle took place and for all practical purposes did not play a significant role. In Harrigan's version, Bowie's loss was very significant, because he knew Spanish, he knew how Mexicans thought, he was a more natural leader than Travis, he was much more skilled at diplomacy, and he probably would have tried to have the defenders escape before facing certain death. One of the things effectively portrayed by the novel is the horrific conditions under which the defenders lived. They had one set of clothes which they wore for weeks and had no means of bathing; the stench of the men must have been overpowering. They had only freshly butchered beef and corn to eat. And the doctoring available for wounds and injuries was extremely primitive at best. The most common solution to a severe wound was to amputate the limb. This is a very good account of the battle of the Alamo, although it works better as history than as a novel. The history is based on the most recent research and seems very plausible. As a novel, the book is good, but is not of the caliber of the best historical fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Gimme Mo' Alamo
Review: A good historical western. It put more of a factual twist to the over-dramatized Alamo story. I didn't like the slave guy I thought he was a complete coward. I've been to the Alamo so it brought out a better memory for me and I feel I've learned more.
Rating:
Summary: Tops in Texas Historical Novels !!!!
Review: Brilliant handling of detail, without the taste of a text book. You'll be amazed at what you will learn. Harrigan is absolutely expert at weaving historical fact with the handful of fictitious characters and their lives. Historical participants are not deified -- but I am an even PROUDER Texan from this reading experience. Note also that the Texas Independence movement is given a very fair analysis -- but this is not an "in your face revision" of history -- you will definitely ponder some issues. Rate it R for very graphic descriptions of battle and non-battle wounds and suffering, as well as some sexual encounters. In fact Harrigan's literature is an excercise in contrast: portions are almost poetic, while other portions are painfully explicit and rough. Surprising passion among some of the main characters. You will experience emotion on several levels, unless you are made of stone. And believe it or not, the story's ending is quite unpredictable...I promise. My favorite Texas History story until now was "Come to the Bower" which spanned more years.
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