The author brings you the battle of the Alamo from all sides, showing us a perspective from above. He also tells about the non-combatant survivors and their point of view, including that of one of the soldiers who is purported to have escaped the battle just before it happened. This was quite an interesting read.

A great perspective on an event important in American history that I knew just about nothing about. There's a lot of detail in this book, but it's not until the end that we get into the obsessive detail debates that the Alamo is sometimes known for. While some of the events around the Alamo might be mythology, even if just a small portion of it is true it's an incredible story about Mexico, America and Texas and some of the incredible characters central to the story - Davie Crocket, Jim Bowie and Santa Anna.

This book really helps you see the culture and history of the time, the role of Native Americans, slavery, homesteading, artillery and siege warfare. A lot to learn!

As a Texas transplant, I am having a wonderful time learning about my new home state. And after a first time visit to the Alamo a few weeks ago, I wanted to read more about it. This book was well researched, honest and fair to both sides of the battle, and very thoughtful. As someone who doesn't read a lot of non-fiction, I was thoroughly entertained while being educated about this time in history.

While the actual Battle of the Alamo lasts less than 10 pages, it provides a broader context for the overall Texas Revolution. It is very base-level throughout though and I would've enjoyed a more in-depth exploration of both the causes of the Texas Revolution and everything that happened post-The Alamo.

Nicely researched and written study of the battle at the Alamo and it's aftermath.

3.5. I listened to an audiobook version of this book. This book has a lot of information in it, much of which I didn’t know. The information about what led to the attack on the Alamo and the personal histories of those involved were interesting and appreciative. However, it seemed like the author used the Mexican and American names for places interchangeably, which became confusing (especially since I was listening to it as opposed to reading the book), and I felt like the book ended on an odd topic. It was very informative and heavy on the details, which made some parts feel dry and hard to get through. Overall, I did learn a bit about the history of the Alamo.

Well, this isn't as bad as Donovan's Custer book. (Which I feared it would be, when I saw the author, and the similarly poor in style paragraph-length subtitle. [In "A Terrible Glory" Donovan goes back to old time Custer-defending on the amount of discretion he allegedly had in his orders, blaming Reno for many of his problems, etc., while failing to take full account of the latest findings in battlefield ballistic analysis to show that Custer's troopers were shellshocked as soon as they realized he'd led them into hell on earth.])

No, this book isn't that bad. But, there's not really anything new here. Crockett, Bowie and Travis aren't 2-dimensional, but they're not more than 2.5 dimensions, either. The narrative is decent, but nothing spectacular. I didn't know every detail of 1835 revolutionary actions before reading this book, but could have read them elsewhere. I had read the latest findings about Moses Rose before reading this book, so that wasn't new, either.

Anyway, be advised.

Had to update my review with an extra star because it turns out that the author's cute and an impeccable kisser.

A very good book about everything that went down during the fight for the Alamo, and the fight for Texas independence. Most everyone has heard at least a little about the Alamo, but this book gives you a ton of detail about the events before, during, and after the day of the battle. If you like books about history, this would be a very good one to add to your list.