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Fantastic! This historiography (the study of historical writing (looked it up), was fascinating. A non-Texan living in Texas, I‘ve heard a lot about the Alamo & knew a lot of it was contradictory, but these authors researched it all, from every viewpoint, & wrote something true, thought provoking, & funny. They grabbed me from page 1 where they envision the ends of the Alamo spectrum as Phil Collins & Ozzy Osborne and it was as hard to put down.

Only got 6 Bingoes in June, but that is ok, it was a busy month and I‘m in that middle of 4 books right now so July will start off well. I moved 3 of the 4 I missed in June to July and am pushing to finish 6 ARCs and some off my #TBR. Love starting a month with a clean slate!

#June #BookspinBingo list. Keeping it vague, focusing on unread #ARCs in June. @TheAromaofBooks Anyone else follow #ModernMrsDarcy ? Loving her summer reading list this year!

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An in-depth examination of the most famous and romanticized moment of Texas history: the Battle of the Alamo, the events that led up to that day in 1836, and the ongoing fight over how to preserve & present that history today.

I found this to be a significant improvement over other attempts to relay early TX history, which can be difficult to follow. And the critique of this "Texas Creation Myth" to be both searing and done with care.

Book mail is the best mail!! I have been anxiously awaiting the paperback version of the tagged book, and it is finally here! Can't wait to see if I ruffle any feathers carrying it around 😅

The 1st half of this book was hard to read & hard to follow, but the 2nd half was good. Starts with an overview of the history of Texas, then dives hard & deep into the slave state that was created by white settlers who had made agreements with Mexico they didn‘t honor and who lost the Alamo in their fight to keep slavery. The most interesting part was the fight over who controlled the Alamo in more modern times and it‘s symbolic growth. 2/5 stars

An in-depth analysis on the Alamo.

Being raised in Texas and taught in Texas schools, we are given a specific narrative of how the Texans bravely fought the Alamo. This book does not dispute the bravery but goes into depth about how some aspects that are prominent in our education may be false.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This was really good. I had a bit of trouble getting through the parts from before the actual battle and the immediate aftermath (I just really know so little about it that it was a little tricky to follow), but the second half with the implication of how the Alamo‘s history has been preserved and perpetuated into the present was really interesting. Definite pick!

I probably learned more from this book than I did during the entirety of my 7th grade mandatory TX History course. It brings attention to Tejano leaders in the fight for TX independence, who too often get overshadowed by Travis, Bowie, and Crockett. The book recognizes historical relativism but also doesn't shy away from the less savory motivation for TX independence i.e. slavery. It criticizes history as hero worship, which I absolutely love.

The second half of November was a disaster for me, but Forget the Alamo did not let me down. A great look at the difference between the legend currently taught as fact and the reality of the events, plus all of the politics that shaped and perpetuated the legend. #12booksof2021 #november

I often prioritize my fiction reads above my nonfiction but like taking a month to prioritize NF as I‘ve read some great books and I‘m enlightened on several topics! Tagged an important book for me to have a different perspective.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Average C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I‘ve walked inside and around the Alamo countless times with my challenge of snapping a pic sans tourists (my photo above!). What I did not realize is how much influence John Wayne and Walt Disney had in creating the post 1950 view of the Alamo - wow! ↓

I loved this. History written by white men, made educational law by white male politicians is astonishingly NOT what really happened. /s More books crushing the white savior/hero narrative please. It‘s past time for us to stop pretending con-men, slavers, thieves, and rapists are heroes and worth emulating. Knock them off their pedestals. Burn your Phil Collins CDs while you‘re at it (ugh).

Surprise surprise, what we learn in 7th grade Texas history is a revisionist version making white men and America the hero. Highly recommended to all Texans!

This was an eye-opening, irreverent and highly readable account of the events that led to the Alamo and the extraordinary mythology that evolved around the battle in the century and a half that followed. Texas schools are required to teach the "heroic" version of the story, but nobody comes out of this looking great, not even Phil Collins (?!?) who is apparently an avid collector of Alamo memorabilia, some of it of dubious provenance. Who knew?

This was such an informative read. It's well-written and researched making it accessible to readers without being dry.

I had a blast carrying this one with me while waiting in the doctor's office here in small town Texas.. 😀 Boy did I get some looks.

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo

I didn‘t know much about Texas history, but had heard the myths of the Alamo. This novel was interesting, in that, all the things I heard weren‘t based on fact. It was a really interesting history lesson of how Texas became a state, the battle of the Alamo and how media (Disney, etc) took the story and manipulated it into something else.

This is a history of the history of the Alamo. It is a fascinating study of how the real facts of a disastrous battle were almost immediately distorted and used to recruit support for the continuing rebellion against Mexican rule in Texas. The story of the Alamo and its “heroes” has been mythologized by comics, tv and movies into a story of doomed patriots fighting in the name of freedom and American values. The real story is much darker.

"History Is Written By The Victorious." - attributed to Winston Churchill

Yes it's easy to see why Gov. Abbott and the white Texan officials dislike this book. It punches many holes in the rugged individualism, the larger than life, "everything's bigger in texas" mystique that they love so much. However trying to down play the heroics of non-white Alamo defenders, and trying to purge the role slavery played in the founding of Texas, is both ⬇️⬇️

I lived in San Antonio in the late 90‘s when some of the push to revisit the accepted creation myths of Texas heated up. Even back then the vitriol exuded by traditionalists was enough to make the argument to me that they were trying discourage real scholastic discourse. The 1st half of this book talks about the events leading up to the Alamo and the battle while the 2nd half talks about everything that has happened since. 👇🏻

The book is a well-researched chronicle of the immigration of US citizens into the Spanish then Mexican area now known as Texas. What is irritating to many is that one of the stated reasons for the immigration was to continue the use of slaves to farm cotton. There were other reasons but that one looms large in this story. People do not like to have their beliefs (myths) questioned and this book does just that.

I just saw this on Instagram with a note that it had been banned by the Texas State History Museum (not sure that‘s accurate as all I could find was an article where they canceled a book release event because of social media backlash). I had to grab it. The question is - do I start it now or wait until Banned Books Week? 🤣🤣