"Sam Houston was a teacher, a lawyer, a war hero, and statesman. He is best known for defeating the Mexican Army in 1836 and establishing Texas as an independent nation. He served two terms as the president of the Republic of Texas and helped Texas to become the twenty-eighth state."--Amazon.com.

"Nineteen-year-old John Coffey Hays missed fighting in the battle for Texas's independence. Full of vim and vigor, Hays joins up with a ranging patrol to defend the Texas border. So begins his storied career, which spans close to two decades. Along the way, Hays leads a ragtag group of men and forges an elite squad known as Rangers. Hays and his Rangers defend the US while skirmishing with both Mexicans and local native tribes. As his exploits become...

"The Texas Revolution has long been cast as an epic episode in the origins of the American West. As the story goes, larger-than-life figures like Sam Houston, David Crockett, and William Barret Travis fought to free Texas from repressive Mexican rule. In Unsettled Land, historian Sam Haynes reveals the reality beneath this powerful creation myth. He shows how the lives of ordinary people--white Americans, Mexicans, Native Americans, and those of African...