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3.0 out of 5 stars
A Casual Read, July 31 2003
I've never been a big Michener fan, but in this tome, he does an adequate job of comparing the lives and personalities of Santa Anna and Sam Houston. Riding on the hype of the Texas Sesquicentennial, Michener takes the reader on an informal tour of early Mexico and Texas. He touches on events in the U.S. as well as in Europe where they apply to the story. What I really enjoyed most were the excellent drawings by noted artist Charles Shaw. He is among the best!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
A Short History of Two Men Who met in 1836, Feb 19 2003
The Prologue tells about his past writings, and why he kept writing into his 80s: his job is to tell stories. This book was intended to be a chapter in his novel 'Texas', but was dropped because it was history and not part of the novel. Michener's reject can stand alone as a concise history of these men. Pages 29-30 notes his solid rules of work at 80: rise at 7:30, eat a frugal breakfast, write until 12:30. Eat a light lunch, take a nap, do research and teaching, then a brisk mile walk at dusk. Supper, the evening news, maybe TV, and the day ends. Michener lived to a ripe old age, after a quintuple heart by-pass, new left hip, dental rebuilding, and vertigo. Like an old apple tree, he kept on growing and producing. These pages are worth reading in themselves.The book gives a concise history into the parallel lives of Santa Anna and Sam Houston. Both were destined to be famous politicians in their countries, but never did overcome their flaws. But how many of out politicians do when the historians release the uncensored facts? Santa Anna won renown by his military action against the many rebellions. They were put down by executing most of the captured rebels, or making them imprisoned slaves. Santa Anna's talents lay in knowing just when to change sides. One morning Santa Anna led his troops against the rebels and was promoted to Lt Colonel. After lunch, he joined the rebels and was promoted to full Colonel! Santa Anna later supported Emperor Iturbide and became a General. All this suggests the Founding Fathers were right to require a small standing Army, and keep the professional military out of politics. This book does not explain who Santa Anna was fronting for; you'll need to read a more detailed history book. Page 112 tells of Santa Anna's use of double agents: military officers who pretended to defect to the Zacatecans, then betrayed the Zacatecan forces who also rebelled against the coup de etat. The Mexican defeat at San Jacinto led to the capture of Santa Anna. Houston showed his political wisdom by getting Santa Anna to sign a treaty to be released. A live Santa Anna would try to justify his actions, and prevent another general from becoming ruler, and maybe starting another war against the smaller Texas. Houston became President of Texas, US Senator, then Governor. Houston opposed the Confederacy, and was removed from office. What would have happened if Houston used Union troops to stay in office? Could it have succeeded? At 68 Houston must have felt he had done as much as he could do in one lifetime. Houston retired to his farm and died in 1863 at 70 years. Santa Anna was recalled from exile to lead Mexico into the war with America. Their defeat led to the loss of huge areas. Santa Anna was the most expensive President Mexico ever had! (I wonder if Santa Anna was a member of a Secret Society and a double agent? That would explain a lot.) Ever the opportunist, he backed the conservatives who invited Maximilian to be Emperor of Mexico. When the reign of Maximilian was on the wane, Santa Anna switched sides yet again. His one gift to America was to introduce chewing gum, a substitute for the ubiquitous chewing tobacco. Santa Anna returned to Mexico City a few years before his death to live in poverty and obscurity.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre, Sep 16 2000
This is not one of Michener's better books. Apparently it stems from a chapter he orginally wrote for his novel Texas and later excised. For some reason he calls this book a novel, but why isn't at all clear, as it seems to be nonfiction. The illustrations are poor. And the book is simplistic and not particularly well written. The book was written towards the end of Michener's writing life, and he includes a long prologue that sounds like an old man reminiscing about his past, what he has found worthwhile in his life. I did find this of interest.The book is worthwhile as a quick overview of Santa Anna, "the Eagle," and of Sam Houston, "the Raven." A much better book about Sam Houston, though, is Sword of San Jacinto, by Marshall De Bruhl. And Jeff Long's account of the Alamo, Duel of Eagles, offers a much superior portrayal of Santa Anna.
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