Sleuthing the Alamo : Davy Crockett's last stand and other mysteries of the Texas Revolution
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Sleuthing the Alamo : Davy Crockett's last stand and other mysteries of the Texas Revolution
（New narratives in American history）
Oxford University Press, 2005
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-201)
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In Sleuthing the Alamo, historian James E. Crisp draws back the curtain on years of mythmaking to reveal some surprising truths about the Texas Revolution--truths often obscured by both racism and "political correctness," as history has been hijacked by combatants in the culture wars of the past two centuries. Beginning with a very personal prologue recalling both the pride and the prejudices that he encountered in the Texas of his youth,
Crisp traces his path to the discovery of documents distorted, censored, and ignored--documents which reveal long-silenced voices from the Texan past. In each of four chapters focusing on specific documentary
"finds," Crisp uncovers the clues that led to these archival discoveries. Along the way, the cast of characters expands to include: a prominent historian who tried to walk away from his first book; an unlikely teenaged "speechwriter" for General Sam Houston; three eyewitnesses to the death of Davy Crockett at the Alamo; a desperate inmate of Mexico City's Inquisition Prison, whose scribbled memoir of the war in Texas is now listed in the Guiness Book of World Records; and the stealthy
slasher of the most famous historical painting in Texas. In his afterword, Crisp explores the evidence behind the mythic "Yellow Rose of Texas" and examines some of the powerful forces at work in silencing the
very voices from the past that we most need to hear today. Here then is an engaging first-person account of historical detective work, illuminating the methods of the serious historian--and the motives of those who prefer glorious myth to unflattering truth.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Chronology: Major Events of the Texas Revolution, Autumn 1835-Spring 1836
Pride and Prejudice: A Personal Prologue
1. Sam Houston's Speechwriters
2. With Santa Anna in Texas
3. Looking for Davy
4. The Paintbrush and the Knife
Afterword: The Silence of the Yellow Rose
Recommendations for Further Reading
by "Nielsen BookData"