Alamo Reader [Hardcover]

Todd Hansen (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 837 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1 edition (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811700607
• ISBN-13: 978-0811700603
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,485,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for the serious Alamo student, November 12, 2003

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alamo Reader (Hardcover)

No reader without at least a basic understanding of the events and personalities connected with the Alamo battle should tackle Todd Hansen's "The Alamo Reader", but once a decent grounding in the history of that famous fight has been acquired -- and if that reader really wants to understand what happened -- then Hansen's book is a marvelous resource. An extraordinary range of primary source material is presented in the volume, and not just excerpts from one version of an eyewitness's account, but the whole of every variation. Hansen provides commentaries to help evaluate these sources for reliability, but the final evaluation of which to accept and which to reject is left to the judgment of the reader. Analytical essays by various noted Alamo experts are also provided for additional illumination. There has been nothing like this ever published about the Alamo before (and seldom about any other historical topic), and I cannot conceive how anyone seriously interested in the Alamo could not want a copy of Hansen's book on their shelves.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Researcher's Dream, October 16, 2003

By 

Charles M. Yates (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alamo Reader (Hardcover)

The most comprehensive compendium of source documents concerning the Alamo and their location, I've ever seen. This book is the starting place for any serious study of the siege and battle of early 1836. Hansen's discussions of various aspects of the documents and their contents at the end of each section are well thought out and well considered.
Be forewarned: This is a thinking person's book. The reader is not spoon fed answers. On the contrary, the reader will be forced to consider aspects not usually taken into account and contradictions not easily reconciled. The one thing this book teaches is that there are no easy answers. Hansen doesn't do the work for the reader and "Bravo" to him for giving the reader credit for having a brain.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Alamo Source, September 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Alamo Reader (Hardcover)

At last! A reliable study of the siege and fall of the Alamo,backed up by a wealth of source documents, many published for the first time. At almost 800 pages, The Alamo Reader, edited by Todd Hansen, contains over 300 documents from letters written during the days leading up to the siege to reminiscences written decades later. His commentaries sum up this incredible tour de force of research. Well footnoted, Hansen supplies the raw material so readers can reach their own conclusions
about many controversial issues. A "must read" for any student of Texas history and the Alamo.