A Line in the Sand the Alamo in Blood and Memory Book Reviews
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- Elizabeth Pena every bit Pilar Cruz, in John Sayles' Lone Star
There are two ways to view the Alamo as a historical event.
The first is as a minor skirmish diddled all out of proportion: a 13-twenty-four hour period siege of a rundown Spanish mission defended past criminals, slave owners, deadbeats, miscreants, and dreamers, which concluded in wholesale if relatively limited slaughter. A not insignificant number of defenders attempted to escape at
"All that other stuff, all that history? To hell with it, correct? Forget the Alamo."- Elizabeth Pena equally Pilar Cruz, in John Sayles' Lone Star
There are two means to view the Alamo as a historical event.
The first is as a minor skirmish blown all out of proportion: a 13-day siege of a rundown Spanish mission dedicated by criminals, slave owners, deadbeats, miscreants, and dreamers, which ended in wholesale if relatively limited slaughter. A not insignificant number of defenders attempted to escape at some point, and were rundown past Mexican lancers, somewhat belying the image of a southwestern Thermopylae. Nevertheless, one cannot overstate the backbone information technology took to become behind those walls in the starting time identify, volition all the odds against stacked confronting them, willing to face a European-modeled army that was not shy about summary executions.
The second is as a historical pivot, the hinge on which the Texas Revolution swung, leading, by turns, to the battle of San Jacinto, the formation of the Texas Democracy, the looting of Texas, the Mexican War, the introduction of slavery into Texas, and the Civil War.
Y'all can have your pick every bit to what the Alamo means to you.
A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory isn't actually interested in either of these historical views. Its intent is to look at its cultural resonance, from its initial prominence equally a rallying weep ("Call up the Alamo!") to Fess Parker'south iconic portrayal in the classic Disney television set shows, to John Wayne's coupling of the consequence to Cold War politics of the 60s (specifically, Vietnam).
The kickoff and shorter section of the book deals with the framework in which the battle of the Alamo took place. It goes to bully lengths to nowadays a counterbalanced story, and as such, properly begins in United mexican states, with its ruler, Santa Anna. While the America of the 21st Century is embroiled in a debate over immigration, it is helpful to call up that Americans were the original illegal aliens. This was never truer than in Texas, where Anglo-Americans poured over the border of Texas (and then role of Mexico), took up residence, and flaunted the laws. Equally Mexico tried to deal with this trouble (balancing the need to populate the land with some semblance of control), Santa Anna rose to ability. Demonized today, Santa Anna is actually a fascinating, enigmatic grapheme. Author Randy Roberts does a peachy chore capturing this mercurial wannabe Napoleon:
Santa Anna possessed voracious appetites - for sex, power, and money, only nearly of all for applause - and he dominated his land. He lusted for absolute power. A contemporary later said of him, 'He lives in perpetual agitation, he gets carried abroad by an irresistible desire to acquire glory...Defeat...maddens him.' Late in life, recalling the ambitions of his youth, Santa Anna wrote, 'How impatient I was to climb the stair of life! With the typical eagerness of youth, I wished to vault its stairs two by two, four by four.' And in the end, his destiny became Mexico'south.
Part of what endures nearly the Alamo is that so niggling well-nigh the final battle is known. Thus, it becomes a kind of blank slate where nosotros tin can projection images, either heroic or otherwise, onto the event.
The problem with attempting to piece together what actually happened starts with the paucity of American survivor-participants. The merely Anglo eyewitnesses were Susanna Dickinson, who spent the battle in the Chapel, and subsequently came to define unreliable narrator, and Joe, Travis's slave, who as well tended to alter his recollections, near likely an effect of having spent fourth dimension with Susanna. Unfortunately, no enterprising young Texas journalist of the 1830s and 1840s sought out Mexican troops for a wider pic of the battle. What we're left with are Susanna, Joe, and a number of Mexican accounts of debatable accuracy (the most famous being the de la Pena diary).
Instead of spending time reconstructing the battle, so, Roberts tells the story almost in passing, in a chapter titled "Interlude." In other words, if y'all're new to the Alamo, and are looking for a battle narrative, it'south best to go elsewhere.
This is non to say that you can't acquire anything. Though brisk, Roberts' retelling of the dawn fight is clear-eyed, objective, and well-written:
Texans rushed to their positions on the walls and palisades, but they had few targets. Musket and arms burn filled the air with clouds of acrid fume, and noise crowded the senses. Along the eastward wall, with the sun still well below the horizon but the skyline only starting to brighten, the attackers stood out a bit, casting long shadows, but at the north, s, and west walls they were, at best, opaque objects scurrying near in dim moonlight. The early on forenoon assail had rendered the Kentucky long rifle all but useless. They were accurate up to two hundred yards, simply the Texans' field of vision was only a few feet deep.
The writing in A Line in the Sand is consistently above-average. From affiliate to affiliate, my attention seldom waned. It makes the case that the Alamo as a cultural artifact and political symbol is just every bit interesting every bit the Alamo as a last stand.
Roberts spends a little time picking through the myths, including, as the title suggests, Travis'due south famous "line in the sand." He spends an entire chapter dealing with Crockett's expiry: whether he died fighting or whether he was captured and executed. (This is a very big deal for some people, for some reason).
The investigation into these myths is a little cursory, because Roberts isn't really concerned about historical truths. He is more than interested in how the Alamo has been used as a symbol past both sides of the political divide.
In dealing with the political correct, Roberts presents an entire affiliate on Davy Crockett: The Male monarch of the Wild Borderland, discussing how Disney took the Crockett story, and Crockett'southward death, and massaged it into a paean of American individualism, freedom, and liberty. (When I was a kid, my family rented information technology once a calendar week, supporting our local Adventures in Video shop).
Some other chapter is devoted to John Wayne, who despite his baggage, is still 1 of my favorite actors. Wayne'south take on the boxing, the overlong, preachy, and unintentionally hilarious The Alamo, is a commentary on the Cold War and Vietnam. It fails every bit commentary, it fails as history, and fails at the rudiments of editing, merely even so has a heck of a fight scene.
The book ends with a affiliate on the left's symbolic use of the battle, besides as attempts by certain historians and Mexican groups to reframe the narrative and identify the Alamo in a more nuanced historical context. In this attempt, the left ran smack dab into the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, who have dedicated the Alamo far longer than Bowie and Travis ever did.
A book similar this serves a worthy purpose. While it lacks the thrills you might become from a battle narrative, such equally Walter Lord's A Time to Stand, information technology provides a necessary reminder that how we recollect historical events can exist as crucial as the upshot itself.
The border wars have intensified dramatically since this book'southward original publication. Thus, fifty-fifty though a lot of fourth dimension has passed, its exploration of the Alamo every bit a symbolic rallying ground for people on both sides of the Texas-United mexican states edge is equally relevant as ever.
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I was very interested in how the Alamo has been elevated to mythic status in American retentivity and the symbolic uses to which it has been put
I accept read very footling specifically about the Alamo, so this book really filled a gap in my knowledge. It is specially good at placing the events leading up to the battle for the Alamo in the context of Mexican politics and Santa Anna's determination to vanquish federalist insurgencies and impose a centralized authority, thereby destroying regional autonomy.I was very interested in how the Alamo has been elevated to mythic status in American memory and the symbolic uses to which information technology has been put. Who owns history? Who gets to interpret information technology? Roberts and Olson discuss these questions skilfully and thoughtfully.
The volume could have benefited from the inclusion of a chronology for quick reference, especially given the authors' occasional tendency to all of a sudden go back in time and depict events out of sequence.
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The residual of the book was what really intrigued me, considering the authors discuss the ways that people drew upon the memory of the Alamo equally the nineteenth and twentieth centuries progressed. During World State of war II and the Cold State of war, for example, many Americans viewed the refusal to give in to an enemy at the Alamo as the best way to reply to the conflicts of their own time. John Wayne's 1960 movie peculiarly tried to narrate the Alamo equally a patriotic symbol in this way. Meanwhile, Walt Disney's television series of the 1950s celebrated Alamo defender Davy Crockett equally the kind of person who Americans should revere and even sparked a craze for coonskin caps across the nation. To these Americans, Crockett lived his life and died as a hero and any suggestion that he surrendered to Mexicans at the Alamo is cursing (despite the words of a Mexican officer who reported that he surrendered and was then executed later the battle). On the other hand, the authors too point to a more recent revisionist movement that calls for Americans to view the Alamo defenders non as heroes, merely equally imperialists and slaveholders. The authors make clear that these points of view volition not fade someday soon, because "the stakes held in all competing versions are merely likewise high." I am impressed with the thorough research that the two authors take conducted here and think they have made a vital contribution to the field of historical memory, in the fashion of several historians who take examined the Civil War in this style.
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A Line in the Sand was written past James Southward. Olson and Randy Roberts who are both well-known for their work in modern history. Their books tend to be about the American experience. Their cognition more than qualifies them to write a book on the historical events that took place at the Alamo. Professor Olson and Professor Roberts take worked together on several other projects. Including the 1995 Pulitzer Prize nominated John Wayne American. James Stuart Olson received his B.A. in History from Brigham Young Academy in 1967 and later attended the State University of New York, Stony Brook where he earned his Masters of Arts in 1969. He also earned his Ph.D. in 1972, in the field of history. He started his career as an Instructor of History in 1970 at Dowling College. In 1972, he found a domicile when he began teaching at Sam Houston University as an Acquaintance Professor. In 1984, he was appointed as a Professor in History and afterwards during 1996, he was awarded the position of Distinguished Professor of History. He holds that position today. The other author, Randy Roberts, received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1978. Roberts taught at the University of Maryland, Louisiana State University, and Sam Houston University (where he met Olson) before becoming an Associate Professor at Purdue during 1988, where he still teaches and holds the position of Distinguished Professor of History.
In A Line in the Sand Olson and Roberts are attempting to prove that the Alamo is not only a place where a few brave men fought many other brave men, only that the Alamo has influenced everything including our history, our state and our nation. Past using letters and journal'due south the book demonstrates alternative perspectives besides the ones perpetuated by pop history and legend. The book makes the reader rethink history past illustrating the thoughts and intentions of the Texan defenders, the Mexican solders, and the generals of both sides. The narrative provides an insight into what the participants may accept been thinking, feeling, and what could have been their motivation. A Line in the Sand demonstrates how the Alamo was not fought over in one case, just many times for various reasons. The authors demonstrate how controversy has followed the Alamo since the offset battle, from the debate over Davy Crockett'southward decease, to Clara Driscoll's and Adina DeZavala'southward biting clash over how the Alamo should be preserved. The novel illustrates how the Alamo was used as a commercial gimmick by Walt Disney to sell coon skin caps to bankroll Disneyland. In addition, how Disney affected the nation's perceptions of the combatants and the idea of the Alamo. The book shows how John Wayne attempted to immortalize it on the silver screen in his own glacial version of the siege and boxing and its effects on the legend. Olson and Roberts show the reader how the Alamo has been used as a political tool by activist and presidents alike to try and achieve their own political goals. The intent of the book is demonstrates quite conspicuously. That the Alamo is much more than what the reader learned in middle school, watches on goggle box, or sees in theaters and that Alamo is still in many aspects still affecting our lives.
Olson and Roberts have done a fantastic job of presenting the boxing of the Alamo and its historical importance in a detailed fashion, merely not and then much and so that only stuffy onetime scholars tin sympathise the book. The authors wrote this novel so anyone who loves history can option it up and enjoy reading it. At times the volume might be difficult follow due to the fact that not all the events are in chronological lodge; instead the authors opt for a more topical method, but overall is piece of cake enough to follow. The narrative fashion of the writing keeps the reader interested and tells the story of the people, events, and places involved. The book does have a bias towards Texas, only overall information technology gives a true and unflinching look at all the parties involved in the many battles. The only inconsistencies are due to the fact that many of the events happened so long ago that they have get tangled into a Gordian knot of legend and myth. The primary sources of information about the Texas Revolution used to write A Line in the Sand can be institute in the Texas Country Library in Austin, The Benson Latin American Collection, The Barker Center for American History at the Academy of Texas in Austin, The DRT Library in San Antonio, and the Texana drove at Yale University. The primary source for the information nigh the Mexican Regular army can exist constitute in the Mexican Military Athenaeum in Mexico City. For about readers the most accessible information can be found in John H. Jenkins eight-volume paper "The Papers of the Texas Revolution."
Professor Gilbert One thousand. Chuthbertson is known for his piece of work at Rice University in the fields of Texas Politics, American Government, Folk-art in Texas and United mexican states said about A Line in the Sand "the Alamo is no longer like Thermopylae in having no messenger." Olson and Roberts have go the messengers of enlightenment that help the reader understand the events, from the showtime battle through the many battles that followed. Chuthbertson continues on to say "Overall, their contribution to the cannon of Alamo literature is as readable and pregnant equally the reconstructions of Lon Tinkle's xiii Days of Glory: The Siege of the Alamo and Walter Lord's A Time to Stand up." This puts A Line in the Sand among some of the loftiest books on the subject area of the Alamo. (Journal of Southern History, 68, Nov 2002, 939)
In conclusion, Olson and Roberts illustrated that the Alamo has affected all of us including our history, our legends, and our government. The authors evidence that the Alamo is more complex than anyone who has not read the book would accept e'er imagined and that it all the same plays a function in our lives to this solar day. A line in the Sand explains the event surrounding the Alamo and their effects in a well-crafted way that helps the reader gain new insights on the subject area, and changes the way they "Recollect the Alamo." ...more
Then all of a sudden it took an unexpected plow. In that location were chapters on Disney and the making of Davy Crocket and the autumn of the Alamo into an American hero and icon. From at that place it moved on to the making of John Wayne's movie the Alamo. Once again a whole new view point I had never seen or clearly did not understand. Even so information technology did non terminate in that location. On and on it went to cover the impact the Alamo had in the American political arena.
This is a volume well worth reading. James Olson gives usa a well written historical volume of men and hero'south. Their strength's, ambitions, hopes as well every bit where things went wrong and the impact. This is all well researched and so many details and references all combined in an like shooting fish in a barrel to read open up manner.
If y'all are interested in the history of Texas and the Alamo this is a must read book.
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Will we ever know if Davy Crockett died in the Alamo or if he was taken prisoner and executed? Exercise nosotros need to know? Probably not. What is important, I think, is that a group of people wanted their liberty and were willing to sacrifice their lives for it. Now, did they exercise it in the at-home, polite, and gentlemenly way it would accept been done today ( a little scarcasm there)? No, but that was the manner things were done back so.
...more 1 add-on to the volume is greatly needed: a map or two. Although an old map of Texas/United mexican states is included, this reader cries out for a map of the Alamo to refer to when the batt
I thoroughly enjoyed A Line in the Sand, which I read before, during and afterwards a trip to San Antonio. The book brought to life the history of the Alamo, the historical context of the battle and the vivid characters involved. I heartily recommend this book to anyone curious about the growth of America and Mexican history.One addition to the book is greatly needed: a map or two. Although an erstwhile map of Texas/Mexico is included, this reader cries out for a map of the Alamo to refer to when the boxing is being discussed. Another area map should exist included that shows Goliad and Washington on the Brazos and the rivers mentioned. Those readers unfamiliar with the expanse need to see what you lot're describing to understand information technology meliorate.
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