The Gates of the Alamo

Stephen Harrigan has produced a fine novel centered on the siege of the Alamo, peopled by both fictional and historic characters from both sides. Along the way, he provides an overview of the political situation in Mexico at the time and takes several healthy swipes at some of the most prevalent Alamo myths.

By and large, none of the Texas Pantheon make it through with their historical haloes intact. Travis, Austin, Bowie, and Houston are presented as flawed, even vainglorious men. Of them all, Davey Crockett comes off as the most human, though even he is portrayed as driven not so much by a fight for some nebulous political freedom as he is by the opportunity to withdraw from a humiliating political defeat and make a fresh start with show more headright land in an independent Texas.

The fictional characters tend to come off as much more admirable, and are well-drawn and believable. The description of the final assault on the mission is grimly realistic, and Harrigan extends his story past the iconic battle, painting the aftermath in broad strokes that nevertheless provide a reasonably clear picture of the events that led to Texas independence. show less

Remarkable book. So well written - this is great American literature. Characters are interesting and come alive. Even the descriptions of landscapes, usually just filler in many books, adds so much to the atmosphere.

The imagery in this book will stay with me a long time. I'm not particularly a fan of American historical fiction and bought this for my husband, but after "scanning" the first few pages, I was pulled in and found it difficult to put down. The characterization was wonderful and the interaction of the different characters both Mexican and Texian was believable and memorable. Toured the Alamo once with a disinterested attitude; now I have so much more respect for those individuals who played such an important part in our country's history. Great read!

An interesting take on a historical event which is very well known. This explores a little more of what happened in the build-up to the siege itself and the aftermath at the Goliad (the "other" Alamo) as well as offering a sympathetic look at a broad range of characters. Some other reviewers have pointed out that the last few chapters seem hurried- which they are, as if the author realized that he had got to a certain number of words and then needed to wrap it all up - and the framing device set in 1911 with a (fictional) last survivor. Some did not like it, but I thought it made the point of how very much San Antonio and Texas had changed over 70 years... and that it was possible for someone who had seen extraordinary things to live show more into the 20th century with all those memories show less

I unknowingly reread this book. I had read it about 8 years ago and had forgotten it. However, I enjoyed the reread very much. Perhaps because I have read so many Sharpe novels I actually understood how the Mexican army was functional and it increased my appreciation. I liked the dialog, the character development and felt that I was part of the book as I read it.

Though I really haven't done any research on the subject of the Alamo this book seems a lot more convincing in the portrayal of the circumstances than any movie I have seen...the Disney movie comes to mind.

A good long read...Two thumbs up.

A very interesting take on the familiar story of the Alamo. The characters are brought to a level of realism not found in non-fiction histories of this epic battle. Very enjoyable so much so, that the reading went fast despite the length of the book.

After struggling through two non-fiction books about the Alamo, it was a relief to read this novel. Beautifully written, with compelling characters, I really enjoyed it. The relentless graphic violence of the last 90 or so pages might be disturbing to some--I needed to rest my eyes with something lighter in order to be able to fall asleep, but war is ugly, and the violence shows up the absurdity of the "battle of flowers" held at the Alamo many years later to commemorate the battle.