... requires a tolerance for some lowbrow jocularity, especially in the opening chapters...But the narrative soon hits its stride, and the story becomes a lively and absorbing one ... Much of the fun of the book derives from how deftly it strips that varnish off and demolishes the prevailing (white) racist shibboleths.
... muscular prose that’s heavy on deadpan understatement ... The greatest surprise of Forget the Alamo is its clear-eyed explication of the ways politicians, educators, writers, filmmakers and TV executives used the Alamo to serve whatever message they were promoting ... Readers may well conclude that reclaiming the Alamo in all its complexity is a long-game proposition. Old stories die hard. What you cannot forget while reading this lively, entertaining and well-researched book is that there will always be another Alamo book, and another, and another after that. Myths take centuries to build and even longer to tear down. Let’s hope readers remember Forget the Alamo.
... engrossing ... Though much of this material will be familiar to some readers, the authors move the story along in a chatty and amusing style ... In what may come as a pleasant surprise to their academic audience, the authors think of their work less as a history than a historiography, which they properly describe as 'a history of the history'.
For readers unfamiliar with either half of the story, the book provides a useful introduction ... At numerous points in their account of the siege and battle, the authors challenge the traditional view. In doing so they follow historians who abandoned the traditional view decades ago. They sometimes appear to be beating a horse that, if not dead, was put to pasture awhile back, at least outside the political classes. It’s no news to anyone, for example, that the commanders at the Alamo, William Barret Travis and James Bowie, were scoundrels before the war with Mexico ... The freshest work in this book deals with the [Phil] Collins controversy and makes a persuasive case that Collins was taken for a ride.
... riveting ... The narrative flows seamlessly as it explores the complicated legacies of Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas, and Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas, as well as the many places and institutions named in their honor. Bringing Mexican voices to the forefront, the authors argue that it is necessary to diversify perspectives in order to create a comprehensive historical narrative of Texas, and especially San Antonio ... Not only an essential work of Texas history, but popular history at its best. The book shines when detailing the power of telling one’s own story.
Writing in lively prose, Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford explore the historical record to uncover the facts obscured by myth, and try to maintain a non-partisan perspective. Nevertheless, their conclusions are bound to be controversial in Texas and beyond its borders.
... zesty ... Setting out to distinguish ascertainable fact from Texas tub-thumping, Burrough, Tomlinson, and Stanford, all Texans, succeed brilliantly in their intent ... evenhanded ... Despite a bit too much chattiness and some unnecessary vulgarity, this lively book is sure to cause plenty of interesting conversations in Texas ... An iconoclastic, romping, bull’s-eye volley at an enduring sacred cow—popular history at its most engaging and insightful.
... substantive yet wryly humorous ... Skillfully drawing on primary and secondary sources ... Enriched by its breezy tone and fair-minded approach, this is an essential look at the Alamo from the perspective of today’s racial reckoning.
