New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2000 ISBN 0-679-44717-2

Finally, readers might enjoy Stephen Harrigan's THE GATES OF THE ALAMO. Harrigan's novel follows the adventures of half a dozen fictional participants (half Texian, half Mexican) from the outbreak of war through the Alamo and, briefly, beyond to San Jacinto. This reviewer found the Mexican characters rather more sympathetic than the not-particularly-likable Texian characters. The account of the travails of the Mexican army on its February march northward is powerful, and the author makes clear the extent of the Indian threat to both Texians and Mexicans. The portraits of historical characters such as Santa Anna and Jim Bowie and William Travis are convincing. Harrigan's Davy Crockett is thoroughly human and persuasively heroic. The endpapers are excellent Zaboly maps of the Alamo and of San Antonio.

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