Customer Reviews

Blood of Noble Men: The Alamo Siege and Battle

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This book is the ultimate reference to the celebrated Siege of the Alamo, February-March 1836. It is not only nourishment for the mind and imagination of every Alamo buff, but also a feast for the eyes. Alan C. Huffines has created a vivid picture of those thirteen desperate days by weaving together the accounts of actual eyewitnesses. Despite his Texan heritage, he has handled the material with utter objectivity, as seen in his treatment of the death of Davy Crockett. He also provides evidence that fifty or more Texans tried to escape the doomed fort after the Mexicans scaled the walls, only to be cut down by enemy cavalry. There are plenty of examples of Texian bravery in this book, but none of the ethnocentric cover-ups that have marred so many other Alamo studies. Among the book's many selling points are the more than 50 sketches by Gary S. Zaboly. Zaboly is not only a gifted artist, but also a widely renowned, prize-winning Alamo historian. His thorough knowledge of the weapons, equipment, and uniforms (or lack thereof) of the opposing sides, plus the Alamo and its environs, allow him the recapture important moments in the siege with undisputed mastery. _Blood of Noble Men_ will bring the modern reader as close to the fight for the Alamo -- as it actually happened and as it actually looked -- as he or she is likely to get. Bravo!

The great-looking jacket foretells the quality of this book. Using a much-needed fresh approach, the author places all the first hand accounts in chronological order. There are 13 chapters, one for each day of the siege. Each events is told from several different perspectives, allowing the reader to hear from all sides and discern the credibility of the teller. The author allows the participants to tell it themselves without inserting editorial interpretation into the text. He gingerly uses footnotes to explain terminology or correct obvious mistakes. Each chapter has a short introduction and a battlefield map which show the location of the events of the day's events. This technique allows the reader to glean little known details about the siege that were previously assumed to be mystery.

The FORTY illustrations and battlefield maps add a new level of understanding of the occurances of the siege as never-before illustrated scenes come to life from Gary Zaboly's skillful pen. (The cost of the book is worth these alone.)

This is my favorite Alamo book and I have already given many as gifts. It is not only enjoyable reading , but a handsome book- suitable to be the centerpiece of any history display. However, its true worth is that it empowers even the novice historian with the information to decide for himself if Travis really drew a line in the sand, how many defenders were there, and how Davy Crockett might have died, etc...

Those that were there tell you.

Of all the books I have read about the Alamo battle, "The Blood of Noble Men" is the one which I find most engrossing. Alan Huffines' book derives its excitement from two sources: the words of the men (and women) who were actually there, and the vivid drawings by Gary Zaboly. Huffines gives us a day-by-day chronicle of the siege and fall of the Alamo which is constructed almost entirely from excerpts from first-hand accounts by Texians and Mexicans, soldiers and civilians. After a brief introduction to each chapter devoted to a single day's events, the participants speak for themselves. Sometimes the excerpts are only a sentence long, sometimes several paragraphs. Occasionally, multiple accounts from the same witness are given. What emerges is a fascinating picture of what happened, albeit a picture often with multiple conflicting layers. Disagreement among sources must be expected. Different persons will often come away from the same incident with wildly varying perceptions of what actually occurred. And the passage of time and inaccurate reporting will add their own distortions.
Through all of this, Huffines lets us read what the sources had to say and allows us to form our own ultimate judgments about their reliability, although in footnotes he does provide background for source authenticity (or the lack of it) and to problems of accuracy - this is one book where the reader should definitely not skip the footnotes. Because these accounts are drawn from both sides of the conflict, a good balance is achieved in telling a story which has often been reduced to a simple fairy tale of good versus evil.

Complementing these primary sources are the Gary Zaboly illustrations. Each chapter is accompanied by a large aerial view of San Antonio, with a numbered key to the points of interest relative to the action described. More dramatic are the drawings of various incidents mentioned in the text, realistic images of the people and place, based upon careful research. Combined with the participants' words, these pictures give a real "you are there" feeling to the book.

Although other books, such as J.R. Edmondson's "The Alamo Story", may better provide a larger context for the events of March, 1836, none of them in my opinion matches Huffines' work in making those events come alive.

Alan Huffines has done an excellent job of putting the events of the 13 day siege in context. It is a pleasure to read and have at my fingertips a reference that allows me to easily look up the events of a certain day. His approach of using the known accounts, Anglo and Hispanic to tell the story and guiding the reader through those accounts with his footnotes is informative and entertaining.The artwork by Gary Zaboly is superb, giving viewpoints of the siege never illustrated before. Gary has the ability to see things most of us dont and luckily for us he has the talent to draw those scenes so they can be shared with all. In my opinion this is an excellent book for both the most dedicated of Alamo historians as it is for those just discovering this Texian saga.

The "Blood of Noble Men" is a day by day account of the Alamo's 13 days told through the sources. Notice, I didn't say primary sources, since most (not all) information on the battle was written or reported afterward or second hand, sometimes long afterward, when it became apparent that the fall of the Alamo was becoming a defining, almost semi-religious event. It is extremely handy to have these sources arranged in a day by day series.
The illustrations are more than well researched, they are unique. No coonskin capped Davy bashing in Mexican heads with Ol' Betsy appears, but attempts at realism of a high order do appear. The equipment and uniform pages are better than Osprey's and the illustration of the Alamo takes into account all the drawings of the fort/mission in a synthesis that makes previous efforts look simplistic. Be warned however that all illustrations are in black and white and the descriptions provide color and context.
The book has a steep price, in my opinion. If you can afford it, buy it. If not, get your local library to get a copy.

It is almost impossible to understand a battle without clear maps and other graphic aids. This book is a visual treat which provides a clear picture (literally, lots of pictures)of the Alamo seige and assault. If you can only get your librarian to buy one book on the subject, it probably ought to be Stephen Hardin's TEXIAN ILIAD, but if she'll spring for two books then the second one ought to be BLOOD OF NOBLE MEN.

Allan Huffines' "Blood of Noble Men" is a new and novel approach to a battle that has more trees felled to address then there were bullets fired to fight. It is exciting, well-written and a beautiful and artistic work that is also well balanced representing both the Texican and Mexican sides. I have spent hours spot reading and even reading and explaining this small but significant battle to my children. It is a masterful book and fills its own niche in an overly written about topic. I highly recommend this great book to all who love history as a true and colorful story of adventure and courage.

this is a day by day account, told by participants who were there, in there own words, truly remarkable the way that alan huffines has done this. the illustrations are really amazing. gary zaboly gives us many views of the siege that we never thought of before.although just printed it is one of the best books dealing with the alamo. if you only have two or three alamo book this must be one.

Knowing Alan Huffines personally, I can testify to his devotion to the topic. The Alamo is surrounded with myths, controversy and contradiction, and Alan takes each one head on. More often than not, many books about the seige focus on the Anglo defenders and ignore or even belittle the Mexican troops, but not so here. Having spent many years digging into the Mexican sources, I can appreciate what Huffines went through to get his facts. I'd rate this book among the "must haves".
I dis-agree with Gary Zaboly on a number of his sketches. Its unlikely that the Mexican rifle companies used the waist belt and powder horns like the British 95th as he shows. His drawings of the Baker rifle and the accountriments are a bit awkward. One sketch looks like it was done in a hurry and has problems with perspective. Still, he has done some outstanding work. Historians will probably never agree on the facts, but they will always 'Remember'.

This is a great starter book until you read the notation "foreword by Stephen Hardin". That immediately puts the reader on notice that there is a revisionsist attempt afoot. Thank goodness Mr. Huffines has tried to stay within historical bounds. He departs occasionaly by giving too much credit to conflicting Mexican sources and flagellating the like if they come from the Texian camp. The book has great illustrations but sadly comes up very short when it comes to the maps of the Alamo and old San Antonio. Why make the Alamo the central focal point and then when the book is bound you can not see the reference points because of the middle page bindery. It renders the illustrations worthless and frustrating. Like Hardin he lends credit to a mythical Texian reenforcement that has no record of ever having been made and tends to discredit his efforts. The factual record is great to have but the authors analysis lends itself to the revisionsist treatment that Texans everywhere have had to endure in the politically correct climate that prevails in academia today. I feel that had Huffines stuck to his original intent and left Hardin out of his research he would have come up with a much more balanced and accurate rendition of the gallant siege of those noble martyrs..