A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory [Paperback]

Randy Roberts (Author), James S. Olson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2002

In late February and early March of 1836, a Mexican army led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna lay siege to a mission known as the Alamo, held by a small band of rebels that included Davy Crockett, James Bowie, and William Travis. In the dark early morning of March 6, all inside the fort were dead -- and one of America's most enduring legends was born.

Randy Roberts and James S. Olson retell the story of the Alamo from both the Mexican and the American perspectives, delving into the historical accuracy of such myths as Bowie's famous line in the sand, Crockett's celebrated fight to the death, and the common portrayal of the Mexicans as ruthless killers. Separating fact from fiction, they trace how and why those fictions grew, from the rapid spread of the rallying cry "Remember the Alamo!" to the "patriotic" depictions of battle in American films and television to the potency of the Alamo as a symbol in Texas politics and American culture today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In John Wayne, American, the authors brilliantly explicated the American myths embodied by Wayne as much as they shed light on the man himself. This book does the same thing, but for a less directly anthropomorphic metaphor: the Battle of the Alamo. Roberts and Olson, historians at Purdue and Sam Houston State respectively, do not think the Texas Revolution of 1836 was motivated by racism and ethnocentrism, as many recent scholars do, but find it legitimately rooted in conflicting views of political freedom and individual rights. The Texans' rebellion against Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had many contemporary counterparts elsewhere in Mexico, undertaken for similar political principles, but forgotten because they failed. After addressing the details of the siege (including Davy Crockett's death), they turn to Alamo myth making, from Adina de Zavala's "near religious love for Texas and its heroes" to the familiar 1954-1955 Disney TV series that made the Alamo a national shrine. For Cold War viewers, they argue, the Alamo and Davy Crockett in particular symbolized truth, justice and sacrifice for a noble cause; Wayne's 1960 feature film The Alamo cemented the image. The authors' account of the continual conflicts over the physical and the mythical elements of the legend establishes the Alamo as a focal point of a wider struggle to define, and therefore to control, America's past. (Jan.) Forecast: John Wayne, American generated plenty of television and text punditry on the actor's place in the American mythos. While the Alamo is a less seductive subject, it remains a contentious site. This book will be well reviewed, and could certainly play a role in the closer examination of Texas that the possible (as of this writing) Bush presidency would bring.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The trouble with the past is that it keeps changing, an affliction especially true of symbols that some venerate and others denounce. "Remember the Alamo"--as all Texans do--may keep history alive, but what one remembers elides easily into one's politics. In a vibrant two-part treatment, historians Roberts and Olson present a solid summary of the Texas Revolution of 1835-36, followed by a critique of the cultural afterlife of the bloody battle at San Antonio. As the authors argue, many of the details popularly believed about the battle are historiographically suspect, yet they are crucial to the conception of William Travis and his comrades as defenders of liberty. As distilled vessels of virtue, Travis, Crockett, and the others were ready-made for the mass-marketing purposes of Walt Disney; and John Wayne's The Alamo (1960) verily proclaimed the Duke's conservative political outlook. Astute and pointed, the authors' appraisal of such uses of the battle proceeds to its contemporary life as a football in the Tejano-Anglo politics of Texas. An exceedingly well written and thought-provoking cultural history. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743212339
• ISBN-13: 978-0743212335
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write stories that I would like to read, stories about sports and film icons who had an impact on American history. People like John Wayne, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali. My most recent book is "A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation." It's the story of a West Point football team during World War II, striving to win a national championship before they shipped off to the battle front. It was their last chance to be boys before the nation demanded that they be men. During the months between D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge the team gave the millions of American soldiers around the world something to celebrate. After their last game General Douglas MacArthur wired Coach Red Blaik, "THE GREATEST OF ALL ARMY TEAMS. WE HAVE STOPPED THE WAR TO CELEBRATE YOUR MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive look at the Alamo and its myth, January 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Line In The Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (Hardcover)

This is a very enjoyable book that both tells the story of the siege and battle of the Alamo and the development of the myth and symbol of the Alamo in Texan and American memory. The account of the Texas revolution and siege are balanced and scrupulous, carefully distinguishing between what we know and we infer. That account makes up the first half of the book. The second half relates the cultural history of Alamo preservation and its place in the current "culture wars" and revisionist history. An interesting account of the making of both the Disney "Davy Crockett" series and John Wayne's "The Alamo" feature in this latter half. I recommend the book highly. The history of the siege and battle is fairer and more balanced here than in Jeff Long's "Duel of Eagles."

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Davy, Mickey & the Duke, May 3, 2001

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Line In The Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (Hardcover)

This book is like a recipe for goulash; you just throw everything in it and see how it turns out. Actually, it's a very good book, although it tends to be overwritten in places and there are one or two incorrect dates. It gives a concise history of Mexico in the early part of the 19th century leading up to the Texas War for Independence, and what followed. Everything is presented quite clearly, and you can understand how things happened, and why they happened. The actual Alamo seige and battle pass fairly quickly, because that's how it was in reality. I found the later history extremely interesting, and combining LBJ's father, Walt Disney, John Wayne, and numerous others in the story was an excellent decision on the part of the authors. I'm of the generation raised on Davy Crockett, and my friends and I recreated the Alamo battle countless times on the cinderblock wall in my back yard, each of us taking turns as Davy. If nothing else, Disney's film of Crockett's life awakened in me the idea of history as something interesting, and worth studying. I've done that ever since, and the authors show that the Alamo is ingrained in our national consciousness because of Uncle Walt primarily, and also John Wayne's movie, which I vividly remember seeing as a young teenager. To those of a new generation, who don't have those memories of the Alamo films, this book is well worth reading, and I highly recommend it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good overall study of the Alamo, May 11, 2002

By 

William L. Gilstrap - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (Paperback)

This book is a rather complete overview of all or most of the legends and myths about the Alamo, as well as a pretty good coverage of the things that are accepted as historical facts. It also goes into the legends, and historical records about the major characters involved in the battle and the politics of the time. It shows the Mexican side of things as well as the Texan side. There is an in-depth discussion of the impact of the Alamo on Texas and the United States, also Mexico. There is a lot about the specific way the most famous Alamo defenders died, especially "Davy" Crockett. It is said that Crockett was not killed in the battle, but surrendered and was executed by Santa Anna. It discusses the issues that came up about preserving the Alamo and the fights made by two ladies in the effort to preserve it. There was also a political fight between the two ladies for control of the destiny of the buildings. That was called the "Second Battle of the Alamo". The book discusses the movies about the subject and goes into depth about John Wayne's efforts in making the movie, "The Alamo", the work, politics, etc. involved and the reception of the movie. "Line in the Sand" then discusses the modern idea of scorn about the Alamo and the resentment of some people who consider it a shrine to imperial land grabbing and racial prejudice. It finishes with a discussion of the Alamos effect on Presidents and other politicians. This is a pretty unbiased look at all sides of the atmosphere leading to the battle, the battle itself and a lot of the effects since the battle. It seems to cover all sides of every issue concerning the Alamo.