Book Review:
Texas Freedom: Last Stand at the Alamo
AllBooks Review, May 2012
Genre: Historical Fiction
Title: Texas Freedom: Last Stand at the Alamo
Author: Thomas Berry
History is unique among the sciences in that its greatest moments are regularly relegated to dark corners as newer and seemingly more relevant events displace them in the public imagination. This means that history becomes a seemingly endless chain of dates, names, and places. We remember the battles, but forget the warriors. Even the bigger events of the past become little more than honorable mentions in history classes. This is where the role of the storyteller comes to the fore.
Thomas Berry is a storyteller. Like the troubadours that would travel from town to town to announce the news from afar and tell stories of heroic exploits, Thomas Berry expertly helps to fill in the gaps between, the who won and the who lost of the battle of the Alamo. The storytellers fill out the lives of those involved. This is especially important because to General Santa Ana, the Alamo was part of a rebellion against his government; so to him it didn’t matter that there was no record of what happened inside the Alamo during the attack. But history has shown that this battle has become a cornerstone of American pride.
In this very ably told story, Thomas Berry skillfully presents a possible filling of the holes in the story of the Alamo. In so doing the known facts of the siege and assault are left intact and not changed to fit the goals of the author. Many authors in seeking to fill in the gaps left to us by time will alter timelines or actual facts, but not Mr. Berry.
Thomas Berry evinces a true love of history and a respect for accuracy that is quite rare. He also exhibits a great ability to tell a good story. He took the simple statement that the Mexican Army captured the Alamo, killing all its defenders, into a 500 page book, which is pretty hard to put down until there is no more to read. We start far enough ahead of the battle to be at one with the time and end far enough after that we can see the legend build. Yes, this book is highly recommended because the people of history live as long as their stories are told.
- John Helman, Allbooks Reviews.
Title: Texas Freedom: Last Stand at the Alamo
Author: Thomas Berry
Publisher: booklocker.com
ISBN: 978-1-62141-255-0
Pages: 511
Price: $21.95 US
May 2012
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