Lone Star Rising [Hardcover]

William C. Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2003

All Americans, not just Texans, remember the Alamo. But the siege and brief battle at that abandoned church in February and March 1836 were just one chapter in a much larger story -- larger even than the seven months of armed struggle that surrounded it. Indeed, three separate revolutionary traditions stretching back nearly a century came together in Texas in the 1830s in one of the great struggles of American history and the last great revolution of the hemisphere. Anglos steeped in 1776 fervor and the American revolution came seeking land, Hispanic and native Americans joined the explosion of republican uprisings in Mexico and Latin America, and the native tejanos seized on a chance for independence. As William C. Davis brilliantly depicts in Lone Star Rising, the result was an epic clash filled not just with heroism but also with ignominy, greed, and petty and grand politics.

In Lone Star Rising, Davis deftly combines the latest scholarship on the military battles of the revolution, including research in seldom used Mexican archives, with an absorbing examination of the politics on all sides. His stirring narrative features a rich cast of characters that includes such familiar names as Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, and Antonio Santa Anna, along with tejano leader Juan Seguín and behind-the-scenes players like Andrew Jackson. From the earliest adventures of freebooters, who stirred up trouble for Spain, Mexico, and the United States, to the crucial showdown at the San Jacinto River between Houston and Santa Anna there were massacres, misunderstandings, miscalculations, and many heroic men.

The rules of war are rarely stable and they were in danger of complete disintegration at times in Texas. The Mexican army often massacred its Anglo prisoners, and the Anglos retaliated when they had the chance after the battle of San Jacinto. The rules of politics, however, proved remarkably stable: The American soldiers were democrats who had a hard time sustaining campaigns if they didn't agree to them, and their leaders were as given to maneuvering and infighting as they were to the larger struggle. Yet in the end Lone Star Rising is not a myth-destroying history as much as an enlarging one, the full story behind the slogans of the Alamo and of Texas lore, a human drama in which the forces of independence, republicanism, and economics were made manifest in an unforgettable group of men and women.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The dream of making the Texan lands of Mexico an independent republic dated from the 1820s. When that vast territory achieved independence in 1836, much blood had been gruesomely spilled and a huge slice of Mexico had been forever lost to that hapless young nation. Starting even before the 1820s, veteran historian Davis (Lincoln's Men, etc.) tells this story in sometimes wearying detail, but the book's merits make up for its occasional tedium. Unlike in previous accounts, here the tejanos (Spanish-speaking Mexicans who'd long lived in Texas) play a central role, along with the Anglo-Texans (Texians, in Davis's parlance) and non-Texan Mexicans. What's more, Mexico and its brilliant if erratic leader, Antonio Santa Anna, get their full due. And, yes, Davis doesn't forget to highlight tough-willed Stephen Austin and difficult Sam Houston. What ought to make the book most appealing to contemporary readers is Davis's success both in showing how three distinct peoples vied for and constructed the foundations of the modern Lone Star State and in illuminating the links and tensions among three distinct cultures and, in the end, three distinct polities: Mexico, Texas and the increasingly powerful U.S., whose role Davis scants. Despite its lack of a central argument, this book contains just about everything you'd ever want to know about its subject. Consequently, this encyclopedic rendering of an oft-told tale is likely to take its place among the invaluable modern works on Texas history. It will have to compete in the market, though, with H.W. Brands's Lone Star Nation, due in February.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Travis draws his line in the dirt, Bowie and Crockett die valiant deaths slashing at the hordes surrounding them, and Santa Anna meekly concedes Texas' freedom to a triumphant Sam Houston at San Jacinto. These images of the Texas War of Independence have been burned into our national consciousness and become part of our cherished mythology. Of course, the real story is more complicated. But, as Davis proves here, that story is still a compelling and often heroic saga. Davis, a historian, provides some interesting perspectives on the causes and effects of the conflict. He views the struggle within the broader context of the revolutionary spirit that created the U.S and attracted American adventurers to Texas, but it also made native Tejanos resistant to a distant, corrupt government in Mexico City. Davis takes a hard look at some of the icons of the war, but his analysis does not detract from the power of their personalities or their acts. This is a beautifully written account of an epic story that can still excite and inspire. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684865106
• ISBN-13: 978-0684865102
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a surprise Gem!, January 29, 2004

By 

Royal A Masset - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lone Star Rising (Hardcover)

I am one of those many people who read everything related to the Alamo. When I first saw this book I was puzzled as to why I had never heard of it. After reading it I am more puzzled. This is a great book. It has obviously not been promoted. I have no doubt that it will soon grow in popularity as those few of us who stumble across it will be telling our friends about this incredible find.

This book fills an important historical gap: Texas from 1800 to 1836. While many books touch on this period I know of none that focus on it. Three Roads to the Alamo, and various biographies of Austin and Houston certainly touch on pre-Alamo Texas, but none with the historical sweep and detail of this book.

Several examples will give you an idea of what is covered in this book, much of which I learned for the first time. Most knowledgeable readers know that the Louisiana Purchase was basically the transfer of a large chunk of Spanish, not French, land in North America to Jefferson's young nation. But this book shows how that purchase created a great deal of confusion in Texas as the US initially claimed the Louisiana Purchase extended to the Rio Grande. This uncertainty, and the power vacuum left by weakened Royalists in Mexico from 1800 to 1824, accounted for the filibusters, piracy, and tremendous unrest in Texas. These are described in detail along with the other factors that caused the population of Texas to decline, between 1800 and 1824, from 4000 to 2500.

Only after the Mexican Constitution of 1824 was written was there even a legal basis upon which Austin could found his colony. This book does an incredible job of showing how Texians played off the US, Mexico, and Spain. Although Spain failed to reconquer Mexico in 1829, the cost and political stress of that war had a profound impact on Texas as the federalist Mexican constitution of 1824 was slowly replaced by a new centrism headed by the former hero of federalism, Santa Anna.

The book also provided me an in depth feel for the changing relationship between Texians and Tejanos. Tejanos wanted freedom as much as the Texians but they were much more fearful of reprisal from Mexico. Tejanos regarded the conventions held by Texians as being illegal and almost treasonous, so they voiced the exact same complaints about wanting Texas to become a state, but they did them through resolutions passed at City Council meetings. The love hate-relationship of Texians and Tejanos with their legislature in the Capital at Saltillo, and the political divisions in Coahuila is absolutely fascinating

If you read Alamo books in order to get the same feeling we have when we see reruns of Alamo movies every week on cable TV, this book is not for you. It does not focus of heroism. This is much more about history than personality. Much to my relief this was not a politically correct book about evil Anglo racists. Bowie and Travis, in the context of the facts presented, are seen as somewhat immature and self-centered individuals who quickly matured and rose to the challenge of their times. Houston is seen as a late entrant in the Texas saga. Austin is the big winner in this version of Texas history as he is shown to be the one indispensable man around whom all Texians followed and respected from 1824 to 1835.

If you love reading history books that introduce you to new facts and ideas, you won't put this book down. I didn't. By putting the Alamo in the context of the times, this book will make you appreciate even more the courage of those who stood for freedom.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Worthy Companion to "Three Roads to the Alamo", August 15, 2004

By 

J. Collins (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lone Star Rising (Hardcover)

This work is an outstanding history: scholarly with extensive footnotes, but written in accessible manner for the "average person". This book is timely, with the release of the movie "Alamo" after the holidays, popular interest in this siege and the Texas Revolution as a whole is rising. The standard cast of characters is here, but Mr. Davis goes much farther than a retelling of the interaction of these American icons-for that, "Three Roads to the Alamo" is outstanding- and shows how the influence of the American and French Revolutions affected the Spanish colonists in "Tejas". As American colonists, "filibusters", moved into Texas territory, they refused to integrate into Mexican culture, and soon became a problem. With the Mexican Revolution against Spain diverting government attention, the American colonists demanded more and more autonomy. A liberal army officer, Santa Anna, managed to defeat the royalists and try to gain some control over a huge land and heterogeneous culture. Surprisingly, Stephen Austin and others recommended allying with Santa Anna, petitioning his government for said greater autonomy (leading ultimately to independence for the more radical colonists). After putting Austin in prison, combat actions begin as the colonists protest this and other actions. For his part, Santa Anna realizes that Texas is more than a threat to his power: it may be the beginning of a Mexican disintegration.

What the author reveals is something more than a revolt against "tyranny" with mythic heroes, and something considerably less than a mere Anglo land-grab as some revisionist histories claim. This book, in conjunction with his previously mentioned "Three Roads to the Alamo" gives both the average reader, and the historian a detailed discussion of this part of Texas history, and a social history of the US in the early 19th Century. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interested in Texan history? Read this first!, August 24, 2004

By 

Richard Thomas (washington, dc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lone Star Rising (Hardcover)

In "Lone Star Rising," William C. Davis has produced a comprehensive and thoroughly readable history of the Texas Revolution of 1836. Most history buffs will be familiar with Davis from his numerous appearances in cable television historical specials, including the A&E series "Civil War Journal." However, he should be equally well known from his vast body of work as a popular historian. This latest work is another strong demonstration of the prolific Davis's talent for producing readable, approachable works of insightful history.

The land-hungry dream of carving the Texan lands away from Mexico dated from the 1820s, but Davis begins even earlier, ably and entertainingly building up the setting for the 1830s. The attention paid to the preceding history yields significant dividends later in the book. For example, by the time Davis reaches the 1836 Revolution and the infamous massacres directed by Santa Ana, we already understand why such bloodshed was almost certain to occur. The narrative introduces us to the harsh Spanish tradition of how to deal with rebels. Also, when the narrative reaches 1836, the author has already painted decades of plotting Americans engaged in piratical-if-hapless invasions, aimed at seizing the province of Texas. To the Mexicans, the 1836 Revolution looked like just another frustrating, outrageous attempt by the gringos to steal their land.

The book's timing coincides with the summer release of Disney's "The Alamo," and it delivers on many of the points where the film fails. "The Alamo" promised us the Mexican side of the story of 1836; Davis's book actually delivers. In this, the book is superior to previous accounts. While he does not neglect the Texan pantheon: the stolid, conservative Stephen Austin; the unscrupulous Jim Bowie; Sam Houston, the scheming drunkard; and the fire-eating William Travis. Davis also calls attention to the often-neglected tejano (the Spanish-speaking Mexicans who had long lived in Texas) leader Juan Seguin. At last, the tejanos play a central role alongside with the American immigrants ("Texians"). Furthermore, the convoluted story of Mexican politics vis-à-vis the Revolution finally receive their due. Antonio Santa Anna, a fascinating character who is too often reduced to the role of a tin pot dictator and villain, also receives full attention.

Davis has penned a successful work, depicting how three very distinct groups of people struggled over both the land and the idea of what would become Texas, and how the Americans eventually triumphed. He avoids making an argument in favor of simply telling a story, and unlike his predecessors he tells a complete story. Consequently, the book reads as a new take on a very old story. It should become a major work among the popular histories of Texas.