Exploring the Alamo Legends

Rating:
Summary: Alamo-philes will probably LOVE it
Review: Chariton is another writer who is obsessed with the Alamo and this takes away from what this book could have been. Chariton is DETERMINED TO PROVE that Crockett fell fighting ala John Wayne/Fess Parker and this takes up a good portion of the book. Wallace, GET OVER IT ! Chariton even has a photo of Wayne taken from the film THE ALAMO and tries to compare Wayne and Crockett ! This gives you an idea of the mentality of the writer and this book ! If he had left out these silly comparisons, this would be a more readable work. Historians of the Mexican side of the Texas War will notice how Chariton seems to ignore or even discredit the Mexican sources. Ahem, Mr. Chariton, do I detect a bit of "anti-Mexican" sentiment here ? Yes, we KNOW you are a "NATIVE TEXAN" Mr. Chariton, you remind us constantly. But if you wanted to make this a BETTER book, you should have spent more time in FACT, not opinion. And just a little reminder, THE MEXICANS WON AT THE ALAMO !

Rating:
Summary: You Don't Know the Alamo Until You've Read This Book
Review: How many men came with David Crockett to the Alamo? Did Crockett and some of his men surrender and were then executed when Santa Anna said, "I said take no prisoners"? Did a flag fly over the Alamo and what did it look like? Did Travis really draw a line in the sand and tell everyone that wanted to stay to step over it? Or did he say everyone that wanted to go to step over the line? These are just a few of the unanswered questions about the battle at the Alamo that Wallace Chariton tries to learn more about following years of research. And what makes this a special treat is that he tries to answer these and other questions with a sense of Texas humor. Not in a disrespectful way for these true patriots of Texas independence but in a manner that makes the reader want to turn the page and see what the next facts were that have been lost to the years. Chariton does a very balanced analysis on many portions of the legends of the Alamo that most people just take for granted. This book is a very enjoyable read for any person interested in Texas history...something in which every Texan should be interested.

Rating:
Summary: You Don't Know the Alamo Until You've Read This Book
Review: How many men came with David Crockett to the Alamo? Did Crockett and some of his men surrender and were then executed when Santa Anna said, "I said take no prisoners"? Did a flag fly over the Alamo and what did it look like? Did Travis really draw a line in the sand and tell everyone that wanted to stay to step over it? Or did he say everyone that wanted to go to step over the line? These are just a few of the unanswered questions about the battle at the Alamo that Wallace Chariton tries to learn more about following years of research. And what makes this a special treat is that he tries to answer these and other questions with a sense of Texas humor. Not in a disrespectful way for these true patriots of Texas independence but in a manner that makes the reader want to turn the page and see what the next facts were that have been lost to the years. Chariton does a very balanced analysis on many portions of the legends of the Alamo that most people just take for granted. This book is a very enjoyable read for any person interested in Texas history...something in which every Texan should be interested.