Customer Reviews

The Alamo

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The Alamo is a natural subject for an epic poem, though the form has fallen out of favor. Congratulations to Michael Lind, and to his publisher, for taking a chance on such an ambitious project. The poetry is first-rate, concrete, image-driven work that captures the flavor of the battle detail by detail. Laced with wit, and historically informed, I count this as the single best non-academic approach to the subject that I've seen.

When I first found this book on a sale table in 1999, it seemed only a curiosity.
Epic poetry will never make it to the Top 100.
But after reading the first few pages, I realized this was a real gem. The secret to enjoying every word is to read it aloud---every line, every page. Yes, it takes time, but what a way to catch the metrical phrasing and to understand every illustration and scene! Wonderful fun.
Can't imagine a better way to absorb the historical context, hear the words that were written and spoken, and to imagine the intense feelings of those involved on both sides of this isolated incident in Texas in 1836.
It's been dramatized so many times in movies and on TV, but words are powerful
Try it. You'll like it.

If the Battle of the Alamo had taken as long to fight as it was to "read", the outcome could have been completely different. After suffering from headaches, hysteria & historical overload in iambic pentameter, surely, the "Anglo boys" (Crockett, Travis, etc.) could have won in order to save future generations the humiliation of reading "history" in prozac prose