A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory

San Antonio Texas, 1836. A Mexican army led by Santa Anna attacks a small fort called the Alamo. Disputes still rage over what exactly happened and why. In a combination of historic and cultural analysis, historians Randy Roberts and James S. Olson blend a narrative of the battle, told from both an Anglo and Mexican perspective. They draw from a wide range of sources, including documents from Mexican military archives and pages from the famous diary of Jose Enrique de la Pena. The events of the Alamo pose a few questions: Did Davy Crockett really die a hero, or did he surrender before a summary execution? And why have Americans built a shrine for an event that lasted just 90 minutes, and inflated it into one of the country's biggest tourist attractions? A full explanation of the San Antonio encounter requires a peeling back of many layers. Roberts and Olson retell the story of a great American myth, and show how and why it endures.