A Time to Stand

On the morning of March 6, 1836, in an old abandoned mission called the Alamo, a small Texas garrison fought to the death rather than yield to an overwhelming army of Mexicans. Through the years the garrison’s heroic stand has become so clothed in folklore and romance that the truth has nearly been lost. In A Time to Stand Walter Lord rediscovers and recreates the whole fascinating story. From contemporary documents, diaries, and letters, he has mined a wealth of fresh information that throws intriguing sidelights on the epic of the Alamo. What were the defenders like? Why did they take their stand? Did any escape? Did Davy Crockett surrender?

The cast of characters includes not only famous figures like Jim Bowie but unknown, unsung men: John Purdy Reynolds, the wandering Pennsylvania surgeon; George Kimball, the industrious New York hatter, Micajah Autry of Tennessee, who was a far better poet than a businessman. And then there are the Mexicans: the fabulous Santa Anna; the smooth Colonel Almonte; the forlorn private Juan Basquez, who only wanted to stay home and make shoes.

• Blood of Noble Men: The Alamo Siege & Battle
• 13 Days to Glory: The Siege of the Alamo (Volume 2) (Southwest Landmarks)
• Night to Remember (Holt Paperback)
• Day of Infamy, 60th Anniversary: The Classic Account of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor
• The Blood of Heroes: The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo--and the Sacrifice That Forged a Nation
• Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway (Classics of War)
• The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo
• Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution
• Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis
• With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution