A great retelling. Brand's has a great style with a smart wit and feel for the times as well as anecdotal material that gives great depth to his writing. His use of Ehrenburg is the first I have seen as source material.
The Problem with Popular History Brands tells a familiar story with competence and sometimes skill. But he ignores 20 years of new scholarship on early Texas, choosing instead to tell the myths one more time. Especially troubling is his handling of slavery in early Texas history--he ignores it almost completely. Texas rebeled against Mexico in large part because the Mexicans were determined to stamp out slavery in their northern province. The Texans at the Alamo were not the good guys.
[Edit: I can't believe some of the reviews of this book. Does no one feel that slavery is a big thing to leave out of Texas history?]Great Book--One Minor Criticism H.W. Brands' book Lone Star Nation presents an interesting and informative reading experience concerning Texas in the years before and after the war that provided that republic with its independence. Brands seems to take the stance that history is primarily made by the individuals who are living it, so it is the people he concentrates on moreso than the outward events. I liked this book and am glad a Texan friend recommended it to me in 2004.
The only point of criticism I might have with Lone Star Nation and H.W. Brands is that he (as I saw it in my most humble of opinions) presented as unquestioned fact the authenticity of the controversial document some claim to be the diary of Mexican officer Jose Enrique de la Pena. While Brands is more than permitted to be of the opinion that the diary is authentic, I think he was faintly remiss in his duty as an historian by not mentioning the fact that a great many others regard the diary as a forgery or hoax, rather than a first-hand account of the aftermath of the siege of the Alamo. However, this is merely one point of difference and it in no way detracted from my enjoyment of this fine book.
To all history buffs: get this book and read it, you'll be happy you did.
How Texas Won It's Freedom H.W. Brands does a really great job of combinding fantastic storytelling with historical fact in a way that is both entertaining and will provide the reader with a good grasp of how Texas became both a nation and eventually a state.
What this book does is trace the origins of both the anglo and hispanic populations of Texas beginning with folks like Moses Austin and later Stephen F. Austin, profiles the greats of Texas history such as Sam Houston, William Travis, and Davy Crockett as well as those on the other side of the conflict: Santa Anna and Martin de Cos.
The main argument of this book is that the revolutionary war in Texas was a disorganized shamble that blundered it's way to freedom. Such disasters as the Alamo and Gonzales could have been avoided or were not really necessary in retrospect, but what they provided were key events that a lot of settlers could draw motivation from. The eventual victory at San Jacinto is told from a different standpoint that you won't find in traditional Texas history books.
What Brands is trying to do is both dispel the myths of the Texas revolution while trying to shed a little light on what actually happened. He does so in a very good way while still giving credit where credit was due. All in all, I highly recommend this book. It's a good general overview and is told in such a way as to keep you turning the pages.Texas - it's like a whole other country! Texas was once part of the Mexican empire (once Mexico achieved it's independence from Spain), but this story details how Texas became it's own nation and, eventually, part of the United States.
H.W. Brands has given us a tale worthy of remembering, and one that provides the reader with an exicting picture of this place called Texas. Brands starts with the American "colonization" of Texas, including the major player of Moses Austin (father of Stephen F. Austin).
The revolution, in which the Texans, much like Americans of only a few generations before, try to break free from the country that politically rules them, covers the majority of the book. Brands descirbes, in vivid terms, the people that were critical in achieving Texan independence, such as Bowie, Houston, Travis, and Fannin. Brands devotes a significant amount of the book to Sam Houston (the first President of Texas), and not nearly enough (in my opinion) to the war of independence, especially the seminal battle at San Jacinto.
I found the book to be very interesting, and well worth reading. The story drew many parallels between the actions of the early Americans fighting for their independence against the British and the Texans fighting against the Mexicans. This time, however, rather than the French and Spanish being the saviors of the rebellious, it was the Americans who came to their aid and helped them to achieve their goal.
