Empire of Bones: A Novel of Sam Houston and the Texas Revolution

Long , a trenchant critic of Texas mythologizing in such historical studies as Duel of Eagles, takes a fictional look at the origins of his home state in his third novel (after The Ascent) . Subtitled A Novel of Sam Houston and the Mexican Revolution , it opens on March 6, 1836, with the fall of the Alamo and the slaughter of Davy Crockett and other unarmed survivors at the order of Mexican commander Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Two hundred miles away, Sam Houston, major general of the Army of the Republic of Texas, leads a ragtag mob in flight from Santa Anna. When the would-be Americans turn at bay in San Jacinto, their savage victory demonstrates that war atrocities are rarely confined to one side or one culture. Less concerned with citing historical details than with establishing a psychological climate, Long portrays Houston, his captains and the San Jacinto rank and file not as the demigods of Texas legend but as flawed human beings who became heroes in spite of themselves. His gritty yet poetic retelling of the fight for Texas's independence from Mexico probes moral dilemmas as well as tactical maneuvers. ( Feb. )