The Alamo by John Myers Myers

From The Week of April 11, 2010

This particularly lyrical account of the fall of the Alamo is an excellent read which I expected to suffer more from being originally published some 70 years ago. Though Mr. Myers does not have the benefit of our hindsight in his account, that hardly matters to the Alamo which must be ranked on any list of the most important battles in American history. For perhaps only Lexington and Concord did more to shape a nation. Though the Alamo eventually fell to forces generalled by Santa Anna, a particularly tyrannical Mexican leader, the defenders of that fortress exacted such a toll on Santa Anna's forces that, when they were then forced to engage with Sam Houston's army in the Battle of San Jacinto, they were soundly defeated and forever expelled from land soon to belong to the state of Texas.

Though Mr. Myers covers the battle in detail, particularly the deprivations of the soldiers manning the Alamo and the hopelessness of their position, successfully haunting the reader with the sheer desperation of those few, blood-soaked days, The Alamo especially shines as a chronicle of the lead-up to the Alamo, both in its vivid portrayal of the belligerents who fought that deadly engagement and the politics which instigated it. We learn as much about the tragic Mexicans as we do the martyrdom of the defenders, with an extra helping of attention saved for Santa Anna who seems to have done his singlehanded best to plunge his fledgling nation into political ruin. This is exemplified by the fact that, in a twenty year span, in the midst of the 19th century, Mexico fought four separate wars under ten different presidential administrations. Though Mr. Myers only touches on this chaos, his portrayal of Mexican leadership during this time foretells an ugly century for that cursed country.

The Alamo is about more than a battle; it's about people, people with agendas, with ambitions, with moralities that drive them to immense sacrifice. It will not fail to provoke a thoughtful rumination on a distant and formative time. (4/5 Stars)