I'm married to a Texan - don't need to say anything else.
For what its mission was in improving our understanding of the old Mission, this is a five-star effort. Don't buy it without reading the product description and most of the reviews.
As a Texas History Teacher this book is wonderful! I saw it at a hotel in San Antonio and had to have it.
This book was recommended when we were at the Alamo. Author built very detailed models of the Alamo and took photographs to go along with his historical narrative.
I am a big history buff and as a native Texan, interested in the Alamo so I ordered it. For a price of $38 instead of the list price of $50, I couldn't beat it.
Andrei Lankov has spent his career studying North Korea, beginning as an exchange student in Pyongyang, and more recently, interviewing numerous defectors. As a Russian, Lankov is in a position to make observations that would escape other observers, namely the parallels with Stalinist Russia.
First, what the author wanted to do with this book, he did extremely well. He used many different sources to recreate the Alamo how it was at the time of the battle.
For the Titanic there are "rivet counters" and for Star Trek there are readers of Nacelles Monthly. What fanatics of Alamo history are called I do not know, but Mark Lemon is now the imperial grand wizard dragonmaster poobah in chief of us all.
This book is an invaluable addition to the library of anyone interested in the siege and assault of the Alamo. It is particularly useful for those interested in reproducing the battle in miniature.
In the pre-dawn of March 6, 1836, the fate of an unknown number (but probably around 200) of Tejanos, Texians and American Texas immigrant rebels and an unknown number (but probably in the high hundreds to low thousands) of Loyalist Mexican soldiers was decided at a place almost everyone has heard of...but that almost no one can properly visualize, as it was on the day: the crucible of Texas liberty (and an anvil upon which was struck much of subsequent North American history, from the nineteenth century through the present)--the Alamo.
I recieved this book for Christmas, after much hinting to my girlfriend. As a lifelong Alamo "buff" I'm simply in awe of Mark Lemon, and the incredible work he put into this important, imaginative book.
The images in this book give a surprising view of what life may have been like during the days of the Alamo's siege. The details are staggering and you get the impression that you are looking at photographs of the actual site.
I purchased the book as a Christmas present for my son, seems his father wrote it. This will be a cool gift!
Mark Lemon's well- and thoroughly-researched vision of what the Alamo must have appeared as before the famous March 6, 1836, battle is nothing short of amazing. The drawings and model's photographs place the reader squarely on the presidio's grounds and in the buildings.
This was an incredible book. You can go to what is left of the Alamo today and try and imagine it, but this book brings it all together for anyone interested in this amazing story.
