Rating: 
Summary: Allows the participants to tell the story!
Review: The great-looking jacket foretells the quality of this book. Using a much-needed fresh approach, the author places all the first hand accounts in chronological order. There are 13 chapters, one for each day of the siege. Each events is told from several different perspectives, allowing the reader to hear from all sides and discern the credibility of the teller. The author allows the participants to tell it themselves without inserting editorial interpretation into the text. He gingerly uses footnotes to explain terminology or correct obvious mistakes. Each chapter has a short introduction and a battlefield map which show the location of the events of the day's events. This technique allows the reader to glean little known details about the siege that were previously assumed to be mystery. The FORTY illustrations and battlefield maps add a new level of understanding of the occurances of the siege as never-before illustrated scenes come to life from Gary Zaboly's skillful pen. (The cost of the book is worth these alone.) This is my favorite Alamo book and I have already given many as gifts. It is not only enjoyable reading , but a handsome book- suitable to be the centerpiece of any history display. However, its true worth is that it empowers even the novice historian with the information to decide for himself if Travis really drew a line in the sand, how many defenders were there, and how Davy Crockett might have died, etc... Those that were there tell you.
Rating:
Summary: History Buff's
Review: This book is a most have for all Alamo History Buff.
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Summary: The Ultimate Reference Work on the Siege of the Alamo
Review: This book is the ultimate reference to the celebrated Siege of the Alamo, February-March 1836. It is not only nourishment for the mind and imagination of every Alamo buff, but also a feast for the eyes. Alan C. Huffines has created a vivid picture of those thirteen desperate days by weaving together the accounts of actual eyewitnesses. Despite his Texan heritage, he has handled the material with utter objectivity, as seen in his treatment of the death of Davy Crockett. He also provides evidence that fifty or more Texans tried to escape the doomed fort after the Mexicans scaled the walls, only to be cut down by enemy cavalry. There are plenty of examples of Texian bravery in this book, but none of the ethnocentric cover-ups that have marred so many other Alamo studies. Among the book's many selling points are the more than 50 sketches by Gary S. Zaboly. Zaboly is not only a gifted artist, but also a widely renowned, prize-winning Alamo historian. His thorough knowledge of the weapons, equipment, and uniforms (or lack thereof) of the opposing sides, plus the Alamo and its environs, allow him the recapture important moments in the siege with undisputed mastery. _Blood of Noble Men_ will bring the modern reader as close to the fight for the Alamo -- as it actually happened and as it actually looked -- as he or she is likely to get. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: a must for all alamo buffs
Review: this is a day by day account, told by participants who were there, in there own words, truly remarkable the way that alan huffines has done this. the illustrations are really amazing. gary zaboly gives us many views of the siege that we never thought of before.although just printed it is one of the best books dealing with the alamo. if you only have two or three alamo book this must be one.
Rating: 
Summary: conflicting analysis
Review: This is a great starter book until you read the notation "foreword by Stephen Hardin". That immediately puts the reader on notice that there is a revisionsist attempt afoot. Thank goodness Mr. Huffines has tried to stay within historical bounds. He departs occasionaly by giving too much credit to conflicting Mexican sources and flagellating the like if they come from the Texian camp. The book has great illustrations but sadly comes up very short when it comes to the maps of the Alamo and old San Antonio. Why make the Alamo the central focal point and then when the book is bound you can not see the reference points because of the middle page bindery. It renders the illustrations worthless and frustrating. Like Hardin he lends credit to a mythical Texian reenforcement that has no record of ever having been made and tends to discredit his efforts. The factual record is great to have but the authors analysis lends itself to the revisionsist treatment that Texans everywhere have had to endure in the politically correct climate that prevails in academia today. I feel that had Huffines stuck to his original intent and left Hardin out of his research he would have come up with a much more balanced and accurate rendition of the gallant siege of those noble martyrs..
Rating:
Summary: conflicting analysis
Review: This is a great starter book until you read the notation "foreword by Stephen Hardin". That immediately puts the reader on notice that there is a revisionsist attempt afoot. Thank goodness Mr. Huffines has tried to stay within historical bounds. He departs occasionaly by giving too much credit to conflicting Mexican sources and flagellating the like if they come from the Texian camp. The book has great illustrations but sadly comes up very short when it comes to the maps of the Alamo and old San Antonio. Why make the Alamo the central focal point and then when the book is bound you can not see the reference points because of the middle page bindery. It renders the illustrations worthless and frustrating. Like Hardin he lends credit to a mythical Texian reenforcement that has no record of ever having been made and tends to discredit his efforts. The factual record is great to have but the authors analysis lends itself to the revisionsist treatment that Texans everywhere have had to endure in the politically correct climate that prevails in academia today. I feel that had Huffines stuck to his original intent and left Hardin out of his research he would have come up with a much more balanced and accurate rendition of the gallant siege of those noble martyrs..
Rating:
Summary: conflicting analysis
Review: This is a great starter book until you read the notation "foreword by Stephen Hardin". That immediately puts the reader on notice that there is a revisionsist attempt afoot. Thank goodness Mr. Huffines has tried to stay within historical bounds. He departs occasionaly by giving too much credit to conflicting Mexican sources and flagellating the like if they come from the Texian camp. The book has great illustrations but sadly comes up very short when it comes to the maps of the Alamo and old San Antonio. Why make the Alamo the central focal point and then when the book is bound you can not see the reference points because of the middle page bindery. It renders the illustrations worthless and frustrating. Like Hardin he lends credit to a mythical Texian reenforcement that has no record of ever having been made and tends to discredit his efforts. The factual record is great to have but the authors analysis lends itself to the revisionsist treatment that Texans everywhere have had to endure in the politically correct climate that prevails in academia today. I feel that had Huffines stuck to his original intent and left Hardin out of his research he would have come up with a much more balanced and accurate rendition of the gallant siege of those noble martyrs..
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