BOOKS ABOUT THE ALAMO

The Alamo: A Cultural History; by Frank Thompson. Taylor Publishing. 2001. Thompson is the best writer currently working on Alamo culture. Other important works include Alamo Movies , as well as the novelization of Disney's The Alamo and The Making of the Alamo (all used extensively in my chapter, here), And his coffee table masterpiece, The Alamo -- which sticks to the historical battle, using all of the latest findings. Great stuff.

A Time To Stand; by Walter Lord. University of Nebraska Press. 1961. The Holy Grail of Alamo books. Lord is a terrific writer, whose work is still worth reading 40 years after the fact. Even with all of the new discoveries and revelations about the battle that have been unearthed after this book's publication, it is still required reading for Alamo buffs. What it has lost in historical accuracy it makes up for in mood and character. Buy this Alamo book first.

Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution; by Stephen L. Hardin. This book is a must-have for all Alamo buffs. It's a fastidiously researched, finely detailed explanation of the battle. University of Texas Press. 1996. Along with The Alamo 1836: Santa Anna's Texas Campaign (Campaign, 89), by Stephen L. Hardin, Angus McBride.

Blood of Noble Men: The Alamo Siege and Battle; by Alan C. Huffines; Illustrated by Gary S. Zaboly; Foreward by Stephan L. Hardin, Ph.D. Eakin Press. 1999. A beautifully presented book, featuring lush drawings, detailed accounts by battle participants, and masterfully presented to help the reader follow and understand each day of the siege. Huffines and Hardin both went on to become the on-set technical advisors for the film, The Alamo, in 2004.

Alamo Traces; by Thomas Ricks Lindley; Foreward by Stephan Harrigan. All of the latest discoveries are revealed by Mr. Lindley. His research into the Alamo in recent years has uncovered reams of invaluable additions to Alamo history. Republic of Texas Press. 2003

A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory; by Randy Roberts and James S. Olson. Simon & Schuste. 2001. An account of the Alamo from the actual event, through its days as a stockhouse for a grocer, past Fess Parker and John Wayne, to its cultural significance in 2001.

With Santa Ana in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution, by José Enrique de la Peña. Translated and edited by Carmen Perry. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1975. There's really only a paragraph in this book that deals with David, but it's a doozy: It details his surrender and execution at the Alamo. Of course if you buy this story, then you also have to buy his account of Travis dying -- which we know is inaccurate -- but everyone skips that part and turns right to David's death, so they wouldn't know about it. You also have to buy it despite the fact that José was dying in jail in Mexico at the time he finished book and was seeking to attribute all of the war's failures to his general; that he added Crockett later after his first pamphlet of 1836 just mentioned the execution of a "man who pertained to the natural sciences" -- no name -- then after many years of rewriting became "the naturalist David Crockett"; and that Santa Anna would have crowed in his report about a U.S. Congressman begging for mercy at his feet. (Santa Anna was proud of killing people like that.) But what the heck, it's a good read and it's not any less fanciful than having Crockett blow up the fort by throwing a torch into the powder room, ala John Wayne's film. (Although, watch out -- Thomas Ricks Lindley [author of "Alamo Traces," below] just found an early source reporting that version, too!)

How Did Davy Die? by Dan Kilgore. Texas A&M University Press. 1978. This book seeks to prove de la Peña's account of Crockett's death as being the true version, in an intentionally dispassionate, analytical manner. All it did was get a bunch of Crockett loonies to threaten his execution.

Death of a Legend: The Myth and Mystery Surrounding the Death of Davy Crockett; by Bill Groneman. Republic of Texas Press. 1999. This book disputes the above books. People really take this stuff personally.

Sleuthing The Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand And Other Mysteries Of The Texas Revolution; by James E. Crisp. Disputes the disputer. Yadda, yadda, yadda...

Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions; by Thomas Ricks Lindley, foreward by Stephen Harrigan. Gives strong evidence that instead of joining the "Tennessee Mounted Volunteers" and heading straight to the Alamo, on January 8, 1836, Crockett led a small "Mounted Spy Company" of five or six scouts towards Goliad, to join Sam Houston in a planned assault of Matamoros on the Rio Grande in March of 1836 (Houston was sending all incoming U.S. troops to Goliad for the invasion). According to Lindley, David then learned of trouble in Bexar (San Antonio), where Col. Neill needed mounted scouts to watch for Mexican troops, and changed course. Republic of Texas Press. 2003

Eyewitness to the Alamo (Revised Edition); by Bill Groneman

The Alamo and the Texas War for Independence; by Albert A. Nofi. Da Capo Press. 1982

Duel of Eagles; by Jeff Long. Quill. 1990. Almost universally despised by Alamo fans and historians, this revisionist history seeks to strip Crockett and Company of their legendary "hero" stereotypes . . . but then just turns them into modern stereotypes, instead: David wearing a coonskin cap and fighting at the Alamo in 1836 morphs into something akin to Michael Dukakis wearing a military helmet on top of a tank for news photographers in Long's time. Crockett is a dumb, jaded superstar / politician who hates his own legend (titled "the monster," even though David never called it that), and deserves nothing. He "saw the crowds and heard the applause, and he forgot what he really was . . . an aging, semiliterate squatter of average talent." There are also factual errors -- Long declares that Crockett was never asked to join the Constitutional convention in Texas when he actually turned the offer down. Worse, upon capture at the Alamo, David tries to con his way out of execution by Santa Ana, and it's written as a cowardly act that invalidates everything he's done in the battle -- instead of what it really is, a survival tactic to stay alive: "The Go-Ahead man quit. He did more than quit. He lied. He dodged. He denied his role in the fighting." Since when is dying by an executioner a good battle plan, Jeff? When did trying to talk your way out of execution become "quitting?" Still, Long is an entertaining writer who, like every other historian and author, crafts a Davy Crockett to fit his journalistic needs. Long's Davy is a "mediocrity" who happens to be a Congressman and the most famous man in the United States, by the way. Whatever works, I guess...

NOVELS FEATURING CROCKETT

Wave High the Banner: A Novel Based on the Life of Davy Crockett, by Dee Brown. Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith, 1942. A keenly-observed novel, with the streets of Washington DC described as gulleys of mud dotted with happy pigs. (Still true today, but not in a literal sense).

The Blazing Dawn, by James Wakefield Burke. Pyramid Books, New York. 1975. Soft-core Crockett, or as the back cover describes it, "the epic saga of men and women as proud and savage as the land that claims them." And it's serious!!! Here's a sample:    David turned on his back, resting the back of his head in the palms of his hands. Lovey turned on her side, snuggled closer to her brother. "David . ... If I should get chunky when I grow older--and I don't always look like a boy--will you still like me?"    "Sure, Lovey. You're my sister, ain't you?"    "Yes . . . but I don't mean in that way, David."    They remained silent for a while, David gazing into the dark of the ceiling, Lovey looking fondly at David. It was Lovey who spoke first.    "David," she said softly, "do you want to do it to me?"    "Aw, Lovey. ...You know what Pa said when he caught us doing it in the peach grove. He said we gotta stop doing it. Pretty soon it would be dangerous for you--when you start having your days, like your sisters Maude and Dolly."    "I ain't had them yet."    "It's about time, ain't it? You're almost thirteen!"    "Come on, David. Let's do it."    "Suppose Pa comes down the stairs and catches us. You ain't forgot the bad whipping he gave us with the ramrod of his musket, have you?"    "Lovey's hand was exploring; it found David and he was quickly aroused. "Oooo David! Such a fine ramrod you got. You do want to do it!" (© 1975 by James Burke; And yes, it gets WORSE! Cover painting by Herb Tauss)

Texas, by James Michener. Sorry -- couldn't get through it.

The Gates of the Alamo, by Stephan Harrigan. Alfred A. Knopf, a member of Random House, Inc. 2000. Crockett in this novel is a gallant hero. His easygoing but deadly manner even intimidates the dangerously drunk Jim Bowie, dressed-down by Crockett for carousing with his men. Crockett is treated with the respect anyone would afford a Congressmam whom had once eaten potatoes stewed in human fat. (Are you listening, Ted Kennedy? There's still time to try it!)

The Alamo; by Frank Thompson. Disney wisely hired an honest-to-God Crockett historian to flesh out the novelization of their 2004 film. Frank is not only an expert on the subject, he's also an extremely good writer. So the result is a book with much more depth, character, and backstory than any film could possibly achieve in two hours. Here's an excerpt.

Frank Thompson (right) with the director of The Alamo (2004), John Lee Hancock.

BOOKS ABOUT THE LEGENDARY CROCKETT: Davy Crockett, by Constance Rourke. Illus. James MacDonald. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962. 276 pp. Intro. and study guides by Geraldine Murphy. A terrific book, beautifully written, that manages to tell David's story and find ways to seamlessly weave in his legendary exploits. Highly recommended.

Crockett Almanacs; 1835-1856. Title, publisher frequency of publication, and place of publication vary. About 50 separate almanacs are extant.

The Crockett Almanacs: Nashville Series, 1835-1888. Edited by Franklin J. Meine. Chicago: The Claxton Club, 1955.

The Tall Tales of Davy Crockett: The Second Nashville Series of Crockett Almanacs, 1839-1841. Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1987. Facsimile ed. with an introduction by Michael A. Lofaro. 116 pp.

The Crockett Almanacs (1836). In The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Eds. Paul Lauter, et al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Includes "A Pretty Predicament," "Crockett's Daughters," "Sunrise in His Pocket." Links and other references and study aids.

Davy Crockett's Riproarious Shemales and Sentimental Sisters: Women's Tall Tales from the Crockett Almanacs, 1835-1856. Lofaro, Michael A., ed. Stackpole Books, 2001. Collects and analyzes the stories of courageous and masculine backwoods females from the Almanacs.

Davy Crockett: Legendary Frontier Hero; by Walter Blair. Lincoln-Hernon Press. 1986

Davy Crockett, American Comic Legend, by Richard Mercer Dorson. New York: Spiral Press for Rockland Editions, 1939. Rpt. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1977. Foreword by Howard Mumford Jones.

Yankee Thunder: The Legendary Life of Davy Crockett, by Irwin Shapiro. Illus. James Daugherty. New York: J. Messner, 1944.

America In Legend: Folklore from the Colonial Period to the Present; by Richard M. Dorson. Random House. 1973

Davy Crockett, a Handbook. Lincoln: Univ, of Nebraska Press,1986. 169 pp.

David Crockett: His Life and Adventures by John S. C. Abbott (New York: Dodd & Mead, 1874). Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. It's really a terrible book, cobbled from the three Crockett bios of the 1830's, but without any flair. (But hey, you can read it online for free!)

"Davy Crockett Shoots Bears." In Gohdes, Clarence Louis Frank, ed. Hunting in the Old South: Original Narratives of the Hunters. Southern Literary Studies Series. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Univ. Press, 1967.

The Life of Colonel David Crockett, by Edward S. Ellis. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates. 1884.

Sockdolager! A Tale of Davy Crockett, in which the Old Tennessee Bear Hunter Meets up with the Constitution of the United States. Richmond: Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government, 1961. A reprint of a "dime novel" condensation of Edward S. Ellis' Life. 15 pp. Reprinted from Freeman Magazine.

The Idle Hour Book, or Scrapiana; Being a Nerve-Worker, Care Destroyer, and Genuine Countenance Disturber . . . Containing all the Information Necessary to Raise a Laugh at the Shortest Notice. . . . New York: Turner & Fisher, ca. 1848. A joke book that contained an illustrated biography of David Crockett, including an image depicting Crockett's heroic death at the Alamo while swinging his musket.