This history of Texas reads like a novel. Brands tells a lively story of the origins of Texas as an independent nation and a state.

H.W. Brands is a masterful writer and has a gift for putting pen to paper spellbinding historical retellings. This book is not just about the Alamo and the main characters we all remember: David Crockett, Jim Bowie; and William Travis. While it amply provides that important part of Texas history and details those three larger-than-life figures, there’s a lot more to it than that. Even before the reader gets to the Alamo, Brands starts at the beginning of what we know as Texas and how it was from geologically formed and the early history of it. It’s a fascinating foundation that patiently and carefully bring the story in full focus as the pages keep turning.

There are so many fascinating events and colorful characters that Brands explores and delves into which makes this book a very worthwhile read. The reader will learn about, not limited to, Moses and son Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, James Fannin, Andrew Jackson, and the charming but cunning dictator of Mexico, Santa Anna. The battles that lead up to the disastrous Alamo are key to understanding it better, and of course the aftermath: one cannot be sentient and not be flipping pages furiously wanting vengeance over the massacre. The book is well-written, educational, fascinating, and full of suspense and drama. I would highly recommend this book to readers as well as H.W. Brands’s other works as they also are unfailingly entertaining.

Texas history is fascinating. This author does a great job combining the lacking story of Native Americans, who were divided in loyalties, the sparse Mexican population in Texas, and the complicated founding of the colony by Austin and his father. Many Americans were welcomed into Texas as Mexican citizens in order to populate the area and to provide a buffer between powerful native tribes like the Comanches and the native Mexicans. The conflict of Mexican citizenship made Austin and many colonists torn, but it was the usurpation of power by Santa Anna that cut the final ties of loyalty. Dictatorship exacerbated the many differences between the two peoples and pushed the Texans into rebellion.

Oftentimes, Texas history lacks the broader political context of the Mexican nation and Austin's position as founding father and colonial governor put him the middle of domestic political chaos in Mexico City. This political turmoil and Santa Anna's feckless dictatorship (including his severe flaws) are key factors as to why the Texans, as stubbornly independent as they were, could declare independence and keep it. His discussion is also important regarding slavery (as protected property)as it added to the motivation to rebel against an anti-slavery Mexican government (though it certainly tolerated Americans calling their slaves as workers. It also virtually enslaved native Americans for various purposes). Slavery caused Houston's his greatest heartache later when he refused to support secession in order to protect it.

Finally, Brands carefully explains the foolish decision of the Texan absentee rebel commanders to deploy at the Alamo, the cravenness of Santa Anna in insisting on executing hundreds of prisoners at Goliad overruling the objectors within his chain of command, his stupidity and vanity, and how the thirst for revenge in the face of no quarter motivated the Texans to win.

This readable history tells the story of how Texas got settled, was part of Mexico and became an independent country. It concludes with a short summary of statehood. The author puts the pieces together in an interesting and informative way.

Having lived in San Antonio for 6 months, I marveled at how the colonists could make a go of homesteading. While the land is very flat it is also very dry. It did not look fertile to me. There is little to sustain life while waiting for crops to grow. Heat is a huge factor in any endeavor. Brands refers to plentiful game, which had to be the case or no one would survive, but is hard to imagine with such limited water and plant life.

There are two areas needing more elaboration. The big area is slavery the other, less consequential, but important is the portrait of Sam Houston.

There are many who feel the Texas rebellion was totally about slavery. Brands discusses the turmoil in Mexico, Santa Anna's shredding of the constitution and cultural/religious differences between the "Anglo" north and its Spanish government as the causes of this rebellion. It seemed that the Texans, while frustrated, were working within the system to change it. Brands does not show how these issues trump slavery. While he mentions slavery he does not at all discuss it as a cause. Because this is a common opinion, Brands needs a better discussion of the role of slavery in this fight.

The portrait of Houston is very engrossing but learning towards the end that he had 8 children is a surprise. Fatherhood had hardly been mentioned up to that point. It isn't that the story hangs on this, but it implies he had roots. Where were the children and their mother(s?) living? Were they in a town of settlers? Living with a migrating or settled tribe? In American Legend: The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett"American Legend" Crockett is shown to be enabled by spouse operating independently of him (but not his debts which she was stuck paying off). Was this true for Houston as well? The back story is needed to get a full measure of this man.

I wonder how much flack this Texas based author caught for his portraits of William Travis and Jim Bowie. They are considered heroes in Texas. Their lives before the Alamo, as told by Brands, were not the stuff of heroes. While I have toured the Alamo, and read its literature and came away from it knowing that Houston put a low priority on defending the Alamo, I don't remember learning that his strategy (ignored by the Alamo defenders) was to abandon it... in fact they were to blow it up to deprive Santa Anna of its use. This makes the story of the Alamo a story of a renegade operation. Given that Texas needed militias for defense, there was nothing Houston could do about it. I wonder how all this sat (and continues to sit) in Texas that adores its heroes and its Alamo legend.

I came to this from having finished the Brands' Pulitzer Prize nominated 'Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt which is clearly the better book. Lone Star Nation" is good, and if you're interested in this ten year or so window, it is a must read, otherwise, read the FDR.

Brands does a splendid job narrating the story of Texas from the early settlements of Austin in the 1820s to the successful revolution of 1835-36. His sympathies are definitely strongest for the American presence, particularly Austin in the outset and Houston later, but Brands is generally fair and complimentary of most of the Mexican military and political figures, only having it out on the megalomanicial Santa Anna. I found myself wanting a discussion on the book's biggest begged question: suppose the 1824 Constitution had been honored in Mexico City, and that the Austin-esque strategy of good Mexican citizenship paid off? Would much of American and Mexican history been extremely different? A solid book, if a bit unbalanced.

An approachable and lively popular history of the founding of an independent Texas.

The author touches on the domestic politics of Mexico and the USA at the time, giving just enough not to slow the pace of his narrative. Each of those topics have made multiple books in themselves, but this was not the place for them.

Dr Brands is discreet and leaves the reader to draw her or his own conclusions about the characters, colorful and perfidious, who are the protagonists.

This is a well written story of how Texas broke away from Mexico, became an independent nation and was later annexed by the U. S. Mostly though it is a story of interesting characters who were, according to Brands, opportunists. Santa Anna and his generals used Texas as an opportunity to consolidate their power in Mexico by suppressing rebels who were seen as American invaders. Stephan Austin saw Texas as an opportunity to become both powerful and wealthy as a land agent who brought in immigrants to settle the Texas area. This would develop the land and thus bring in more taxes for Mexico but also be a buffer to the Indian tribes, mostly Comanche. Travis saw Texas as an opportunity to start over and get away from familial obligations and debt in the US. Bowie saw this as an opportunity to make money. His swindling had gotten him into trouble in Louisiana and he had to flee. Davey Crockett hoped to revive his failed political career and reputation. He nevertheless was already a living legend. Finally, Sam Houston left behind a failed marriage and political career and saw Texas as an opportunity for renewal. Most gave their lives for Texas. Brands does an excellent job telling about the struggles immigrants had during the rebellion against Mexico and how many became refugees in their own land. The one person who shines through and foresaw the problems Mexico would have with the Texas settlers was Mexican General Teran`. His suggestions of how to regain control of the area were not heeded. He also saw Texas as critical to the economy of Mexico. During the rebellion there were two struggles going on at the same time; one fighting the Mexican government to be recognized as an independent province within Mexico and the other fighting for independence from Mexico and hoping to become a part of the United States. Sam Houston was a reluctant military leader, slow to act. He had to deal with Texan rebels who were very independent and difficult to control. They had a mind of their own and often disobeyed Houston’s orders which actually led to a victory at San Jacinto over Santa Anna and independence for Texas. One cannot overlook the brutal massacres that took place at the hands of Santa Anna at Goliad and the Alamo. For this he was never really held accountable but rather used as an agent to negotiate Texan independence with Washington D. C. Two items permeating the story is the problem of slavery that came with Texan independence and whether it would become a state. The other factor behind the scenes was former president Andrew Jackson who in his dying days lobbied heavily for Texas to become a part of the U.S., his legacy. A good read by H. W. Brands.

As a native Texan, I took Texas History in order to graduate from High School. This book mainly focuses on the main characters involved in the struggle for independence, i.e., Houston, Travis, Bowie, Austin, Santa Ana and others. It is told in story form and is very interesting.

Helped to demystify some of the legends that Texans hold about the glorious days of the war of independence and of the Republic.

A captivating retelling of the birth of Texas, which filled in some gaps left from my junior high Texas history class. Includes a good dose of analysis regarding the impact of the Texas revolution/annexation on US history.

Excellent read - lots of details. Fun to travel in Texas and think about what went on there in the 1800s and what it would have been like to live then.

(Audiobook) For me, this was a review of my 7th grade Texas History class. The saga of how a former Spanish buffer territory became its own independent nation is quite a tale even among the 50 other states in the Union. Of course, this is not a middle school textbook, but an adult history book, one that looks to dispel just as many myths as tell the history. It is primarily focused on Texas from Mexican Independence to Texas independence and its eventual entry into the US as a state. Many of the Texas “heroes” are not quite the virtuous figures my 7th grade history class made them out to be. Scalawags, ruffians, and near criminals seem to be better labels for men such as Travis and Bowie. Crockett and Houston were once rising Tennessee political stars, but their stocks fell hard and Texas as a chance for resurrection. For Houston, his political fortunes did improve, albeit after a near-run victory. Crockett did not rise again in life, but he became arguably the biggest martyr from the Alamo. Of course, all tales much have a villain, and for Texas, that is Santa Anna. While not the pure devil of 7th grade history, he was not that virtuous, more akin to the dictators of Europe and of other eras.

Overall, a very readable history of the critical times in Texas history. It does not gloss over the role of slavery in the founding of the Texas Republic, nor does it whitewash it when it comes to why Texas could not immediately join the Union. It shows that Sam Houston was extremely luck on the field of battle and that Santa Anna made some major mistakes with his campaign. One or two things change, Texas may yet have remained part of Mexico, and perhaps, Juneteenth does not happen in Texas, but in another part of the US. Worth at least one read, but would be interesting to get a take from someone who was not raised in Texas.

This book chronicles the early 19th century story of the group of people (the first Texans really) who struggled for independence from Mexico. The book ends with the "re-annexation" of Texas to the United States. The story is told from the viewpoint of both Mexico and Texas via the players and places on both sides -- from Santa Anna, to Andrew Jackson, to Sam Houston, to Stephen Austin, to the Alamo. I found it to be very well-researched and balanced and was very engaging throughout. 4.5 stars!