false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165604883m/6888.jpg 6888 8 H.W. Brands's <I>Lone Star Nation: How a Ragged Army of Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence--and Changed America</I> is not a complete history, but offers a compelling portrait of the key personalities in the war for Texas's independence from Mexico. Brands frames his narrative with two events: Moses Austin's 1820 proposal for an American colony in Texas and Sam Houston's removal in 1861 as governor. Along the way, <I>Lone Star Nation</I> is punctuated by textbook moments, from the battle of the Alamo to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.<p> The strength of Brands's account lies in his tendency towards biography and his talent for rendering dramatic anecdotes. Professor of American History at Texas A&M and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Brands has an attraction to powerful American personalities, as demonstrated by his biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin (<I>T.R.</I> and <I>The First American</I>, respectively). The history of Texas is rife with legendary frontiersmen, and David Crockett, Sam Houston, and James Bowie add color to the narrative built around Stephen Austin, Santa Anna, and a succession of American presidents with expansionist ambitions. When he arrives at the pivotal moments in Texas lore, Brands is apt to follow a singular individual rather than give a broad, battlefield account. <p> "For better or for worse, Texas was very much like America," Brands declares near the end of his study, reflecting on the abuse of indigenous peoples and the greed of those declaring "Manifest Destiny." He continues: "sooner or later ... democracy corrected its worst mistakes." Despite this sanguine conclusion, Brands omits a balancing account of Indian claims to Texas. The Comanches, "natural anarchists" according to Brands, are sketched in a few short pages, and no Native American shares a voice in the text (partially to be excused for a lack of primary sources). Brands argues, "If the Texans were guilty of theft, the people from whom they sprang were much guiltier." Perhaps true, but Brands's highly readable tale of Texas heroes would be even stronger with a tempering account of the victims of the thievery. <I>--Patrick O'Kelley</I> 10117 10 2 2004 Lone Star Nation: How a Ragged Army of Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence - and Changed America total:63|5:2|4:1|3:0|2:0|1:0| 63 266 90 13 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 18 09:21:18 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 09:21:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 14 17:45:41 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 11:17:21 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Jun 24 08:46:34 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 08:49:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Sep 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 12:11:40 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 12:14:50 -0700 2009
Some was a little too detailed, but still, I got to know the participants in more detail than in past readings. That i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun May 03 15:59:42 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 16:02:00 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 13 22:35:42 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 22:43:03 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 12 19:37:20 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 19:37:57 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 09:41:09 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 09:42:03 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jun 06 11:26:41 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 11:27:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Feb 04 12:32:46 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 12:33:46 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Sep 12 14:57:16 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 19 12:36:14 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Apr 24 20:15:41 -0700 2007 Tue Apr 24 20:17:29 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Jun 12 07:05:16 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 07:09:50 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sun Nov 08 22:35:27 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 22:35:27 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Nov 07 20:25:51 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 20:25:51 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri Oct 16 19:35:29 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 19:35:29 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Oct 08 07:20:48 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 07:20:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 06 22:19:23 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 22:19:24 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 29 12:42:39 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 12:42:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 19 21:47:39 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 21:47:39 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6888