Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History. Vol. 1, Indians and Spain. Vol. 2, Mexico and the United States. 2 vols. in one (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THERE WAS NO RECORD BUT MEMORY and it became tradition and then legend and then religion..." (more)
Key Phrases: lower river towns, mexican rio grande, spanish rio grande, United States, New Mexico, General Taylor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Extremely well written, in a style that is sometimes as eloquent as Macaulay's, sometimes precise and restrained like that of Prosper Merimee...In short, a book of exceptional merit, among the very best of its kind."--Marcus Cunliffe, Manchester Guardian

"Here is known and unknown history, emotion and color, sense and sensitivity, battles for land and the soul of man, cultures and moods, fused by a glowing pen and a scholarly mind into a cohesive and memorable whole."--Boston Sunday Herald

Review

"Transcends regional history and soars far above the river valley with which it deals . . . a survey, rich in color and fascinating in pictorial detail, of four civilizations: the aboriginal Indian, the Spanish, the Mexican, and the Anglo-American . . . It is, in the best sense of the word, literature. It has architectural plan, scholarly accuracy, stylistic distinction, and not infrequently real nobility of spirit" (Allan Nevins )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1038 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan; 1st edition (October 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819562513
• ISBN-13: 978-0819562517
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #497,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most complete introduction to the Rio Grande Valley, November 2, 1998

By	Kenneth G. Ramey (Paso Robles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This two-volume series was my inroduction to Paul Horgan who became one of my favorite authors. It is interesting to note he and Frank Waters ('the Man who Killed the Deer') died recently just two weeks apart. They were both 92, and among the greatest authors who dealt with the Rio Grande. Mr. Hogan's dedication to detail set him apart from Willa Cather whose fame rests upon her book 'Death comes to the Archbishop,' using Lamy as her subject. She rejected the aproach of Paul Horgan who at the time was writing his own history, 'Lamy of Santa Fe.' Willa Cather was a novelist; Paul Horgan an historian, and of the two I prefer the truth. Anyone interested in the history of the Rio Grande will be delighted with Paul Horgan's two-volume introduction to it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book but NOT a "Quick History", February 2, 2006

By	Kenneth Wagner - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The level of detail amassed by Horgan for this book is nothing short of incredible. Roughly half the book is dedicated to historical events; the other half covers culture, the role of religion, native living conditions, and a hundred other nuances of day-to-day living by peoples (both native and the later Spanish/American cultures) along the Rio Grande.

Readers who want a VERY in-depth history of the Rio Grande can't do any better than this book. However, readers looking for a more general overview of events might want to consider other sources.

I probably fell into the latter category; I found myself skipping 2-5 pages at a time because I just wasn't that interested in knowing every single detail of (for example) how the Indians dressed and meticulously prepared bits of food for a ceremony to welcome the growing season. Or details covering 5 pages of how Spanish missionaries held a typical mass in the settlements in 1650.

That said, I recognize that this book is about as complete a works as could be published. I'd much rather skip over detail than have an account which isn't thorough.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Horgan's best, September 14, 2003

By	Jack Purcell (Placitas, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This book is the best ever written on the history of the southwest along the Rio Grande. Horgan manages to capture the shared history of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico as no other historian/writer has ever done. This one will be around as long as readers want to understand history in the borderlands.