The Gates of the Alamo

My lord, it took me a long time to finish this book! I started it at the end of June and just now finished it. This summer has not been good in terms of my finishing books in a timely fashion, for some reason.

I really liked this book, despite how long it took me to read it. Living in Texas, I am fascinated with the Texas war for independence. Not in the stereotypical, too big for its britches way that Texas can sometimes present itself, but just a morbid interest in the massacre that occurred at the Alamo. I believe this book to be rather historically accurate, minus the inclusion of a few purely fictional (main) characters. Many reviews I have read have complained about the gratuitous violence, and yes, this book has plenty of gory battle scenes. However, I believe the graphic descriptions were essential to providing an accurate depiction of just how gruesome the fight was. Besides the obvious storyline of the war, there is a very unusual love story as a subplot.

I would count this book as one of my favorite historical fiction novels.

My favorite quote: "...the defenders of the Alamo turned and ran into the dark cells of the old mission convent where monks had once passed this venerable hour before dawn in murmuring prayer."