Customer Reviews

The Magnificent Barbarians: Little-Told Tales of the Texas

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More than just an "historical trivia book" MAGNIFICENT BARBARIANS covers a variety of Texana related to the War for Independence. From famous and almost forgotten Tejanos and Black patriots to the U.S. Army involvement at San Jacinto. Good quality sketches liven the text. This is well worth having on your bookshelf. (Since it's out of print, you might have to steal a copy)

A lively exploration of some of the less told tales of early Texas history. A newspaper columnist from Corpus Christi, Walraven readily admits that he is writing a pop - as opposed to academic - history. While this makes for an easy read, it can also leave the reader wishing for stronger substantiation of some of his claims. Still, the author largely avoids the unsubstantiated rumors and wild speculations that so often plague the genre. As the title suggests, Magnificent Barbarians portrays the heroes of early Texas as real people with often conflicting goals and motivations. In so doing, the book serves as a happy balance between the overzealous idolization of many earlier books on the subject and the wild demonization one often finds in more recent revisionist works. Overall Magnificent Barbarians is enoyable, informative, and at times even insightful.