Adding to the Remember series (which profiles major American battles), Walker offers a detailed account of one of this country´s most famous last stands. Opening with clear context about why tensions between Texas residents and the Mexican government were brought to a head, the book then chronicles events directly leading to the siege of the Alamo and its immediate aftermath, following up with an epilogue on the decisive battle of San Jacinto 10 months later. Bringing the history to life is a healthy selection of dramatic, modern paintings along with plenty of archival drawings, maps, and old photos. Back matter includes resource lists, biographical postscripts on notable Alamo survivors, and several time lines. This doesn´t emphasize primary source accounts as much as one might expect, given the subtitle, but students of the conflict will welcome the attractively presented information available in the book, which can serve as a bridge to Jim Murphy´s more in-depth Inside the Alamo (2003).
　　Remember the Alamo presents a fresh look at one of the most famous battles in American history. The story has been told countless times in everything from comic books to feature films. Always it is the brave Americans—Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, William Travis, and others—fighting the overwhelming forces of a cruel dictator for the right to live in a Texas independent of Mexican rule. Too often, little mention is made of the Tejanos—Mexican Texans—who put their lives on the line to fight alongside the other defenders at the Alamo. And what about Santa Anna? Was he so wrong in trying to keep Americans from taking over his country? Clearly there is more to the story.
　　Paul Robert Walker has studied the evidence—messages sent out from the Alamo before the battle, reports written by Tejano and Texian leaders, eyewitness accounts from a slave and the handful of women and children who were spared by Santa Anna, and stories told by Mexican officers and soldiers. He has consulted with experts, examined the historic sites, and read the most recent scholarly theories to present the story of the Alamo through the eyes of Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans as you´ve never heard it before.