In 'Nacogdoches,' Robert Bruce Blake crafts a compelling narrative that interweaves historical facts with rich storytelling, immersing readers in the vibrant tapestry of Texas's oldest town. Blake's literary style combines evocative descriptions with meticulous attention to historical detail, creating a vivid portrayal of the town's cultural and social evolution from its indigenous roots through the struggles and triumphs of its inhabitants. Set against a backdrop of significant historical...

The #1 New York Times –bestselling author of The Miracle of Dunkirk tells the story of the Texans who fought Santa Anna's troops at the Battle of the Alamo."Probably the best of all Alamo accounts . . . a history which should last." — The New York Times Book ReviewLooking out over the walls of the whitewashed Alamo, sweltering ...

The astonishing, hitherto unknown truths about a disease that transformed the United States at its birthA horrifying epidemic of smallpox was sweeping across the Americas when the American Revolution began, and yet we know almost nothing about it. Elizabeth A. Fenn is the first historian to reveal how deeply variola affected the outcome of the war in every colony and the lives of everyone in North America.By 1776, when military action and political ferment ...

A sweeping, action-packed saga of the legendary last stand at the Alamo, by the author of the bestselling A Terrible Glory.On February 23, 1836, a large Mexican army led by dictator Santa Anna reached San Antonio and laid siege to about 175 Texas rebels holed up in the Alamo. The Texans refused to surrender for nearly two weeks until almost 2,000 Mexican troops unleashed a final assault. The defenders fought valiantly-for their lives and for a free and ind...

"William C. Davis's Three Roads to the Alamo is far and away the best account of the Alamo I have ever read. The portraits of Crockett, Bowie, and Travis are brilliantly sketched in a fast-moving story that keeps the reader riveted to the very last word." — Stephen B. OatesThree Roads to the Alamois the definitive book about the lives of David Crockett, James Bowie and William Barret Travis—the legendary frontiersmen and fighters who met their des...

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in HistoryA dramatic, riveting, and “fresh look at a region typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait” (Publishers Weekly).Megan Kate Nelson “expands our understanding of how the Civil War affected Indigenous peoples and helped to shape the nation” (Library Journal, starred review), reframin...

Acclaimed historians Randy Roberts and James Olson use a wealth of archival sources—including the diary of José Enrique de la Peña—to retell the story of the Alamo for a new generation of Americans.In late February and early March of 1836, the Mexican Army—commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna—besieged a small force of Anglo and Tejano rebels at a mission known as the Alamo. The defenders faced a dire predicament, lacking vital information about the even...

2020 Philosophical Society of Texas Nonfiction Book Prize2019 Nonfiction Book Award Finalist, Writers’ League of Texas2021 Citation from the San Antonio Conservation Society"Harrigan, surveying thousands of years of history that lead to the banh mi restaurants of Houston and the juke joints of Austin, remembering the forgotten as well as the famous, delivers an exhilarating blend of the base and the ignoble, a very human story indeed. [ Bi...

A riveting true account of gold rush fever in mid-nineteenth-century America, rich with the thrilling exploits of daring fortune seekers and dangerous outlawsAmerica was never the same after January 24, 1848. It was on that day that a carpenter named James Marshall discovered a tiny nugget of gold while building a sawmill at Sutter's Fort, just east of Sacramento, California. Marshall's find ignited a fever the nation had never known before, drawing people from all ...

Praise for KINGS OF TEXAS"Kings of Texas is a fresh and very welcome history of the great King Ranch. It's concise but thorough, crisply written, meticulous, and very readable. It should find a wide audience."-Larry McMurtry, author of Sin Killer and the Pulitzer Prize--winning Lonesome Dove"This book is about the King Ranch, but it is about much more than that. A compelling chronicle of war, peace, love, betrayal, birth, and death in the region where the Texas-Mexic...

The earliest European perception of California was of a wonderful land of mystery and plenty, a Terrestrial Paradise. California would become a magnet for generations of people seeking the good life.The first foreign settlements in California were planted by Spaniards in the late eighteenth century. Padres and soldiers on Mexico's northern frontier searched for and opened an overland passage, though a dangerous one, to Spain's new province. Following Mexico's successful revolution ...

"A thoughtful military history of the Texas Revolution from the perspective of Irish-Americans who were in the thick of it. Highly recommended." — Midwest Book ReviewBreaking new ground with original insights, Phillip Thomas Tucker's The Forgotten Defenders of the Alamo: The Irish of the Texas Revolution, 1835-1836, sets forth one of the best remaining untold stories of the Alamo and Texas Revolution by exploring a largely forgotten and long ignore...