I have seen sections of this book while researching my family tree. I found it full of wonderful stories and information. It gives you a look into that era and how the town started. A great look at history even if you are not a member of the family.

Indeed the Almada family and the city of Alamos made their marks in the pages of history, one that was both profoundly glorious and hauntingly tragic, and Albert Stagg thoroughly captures the family chronicles and the evolution of the old colonial city in his book the "Almadas and Alamos."
Stagg does a brilliant job of recounting the origins of the Portuguese/Spanish/Mexican Almada clan, and even links his own lineage to the clan of prominent silver barons.
Indeed, like Rachael Almada in her review of the book, I too appreciate being able to read about the background of our family, but even for people not familiar with Los Almadas or Alamos, they will appreciate the relation of Alamos to North America, for it was from 18th century Alamos that the first pobladores(settlers) of Los Angeles came and founded the city.
Moreover, if people enjoy Stagg's book, they may also appreciate the "First Bishop of Sonora" which recounts the seminal career of the first Bishop of Sonora-Sinaloa and the Californias, and "Almada of Alamos," the Diary of Don Bartolome Almada.

Kudos to Albert Stagg!! I always remember this book sitting on my grandmother's shelf as a child, but it wasn't until I was older that I took a serious interest in my family's history. I am so thankful to Mr. Stagg for giving the Almada's this gift. I have bought several copies for family members, which has become a popular Christmas gift. It is always a special thing to know one's roots and heritage and with this book I can read about mine whenever I feel. Thank You!

This work is a highly readable look into the story behind the first atomic bomb. Some very minor factual innaccuracies can be discounted due to the lack of unclassified information available to the author at the time of writing (such as the presence of Einstein at Los Alamos).

The book does a fine job of looking beyond the story and into the lives and personalities of the players. Excellent photo section, with what are probably the first-ever published diagrams of the general design of the Trinity bomb.

Required reading for those interested in the most important story of WWII.

Lansing Lamont takes an otherwise dry and sterile subject and turns it into a fictional type thrillride. This account of a momentous event matches anything that has been authored by Clancy or Crichton with one distinct differance...this actually happened.

This book is not entirely based on interviews with the scientists and other higher-ups at Los Alamos. It was written in large part using interviews with the "lesser" folks who were there... cooks, security guards, federal agents, family members of scientists, officers, etc. Mix those interviews in with all the historical information and you get a great alternate perspective on what it was like to have been stationed at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project years. A terrific book, and well worth reading if you can locate a copy.

The story on page 240 is more clear than I remember it. I was a Gunners Mate on PT Boat 379 of Squdron 28 and have pictures of the two prisoners that Lt. Dove brought back to the boat. Also took a picture of the 39 people we rescued. Lt. Morton was our skipper. At least one part of the operation was in daylite. The "team" was made up of only two men, Lt. Dove and a Filipino Scout. We in the boat crew couldn't believe the scouts could get away with some of the operations they were on. A most fantastic group of men.

Read this book! Real people, real heroes. I have no idea why they haven't made a movie about these guys.

They have a record no unit on the planet can top: 106 missions in 18 months, 138 personnel (including staff, support and operators), and no wounded or killed in action.

Freaking Unbelievable! One of the more interesting anecdotes was a prayer by one of the Scouts (paraphrased): "Lord, If you don't want me to kill the enemy, don't let me see them..."

Get this book, it's history and it's not dry at all!

Silent Warriors of World War II is the amazing story of the Alamo Scouts, Sixth Army's elite commando, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering unit, which performed 106 missions behind Japanese lines in New Guinea and in the Philippines without losing a man killed or captured. The author not only informs and educates, he tells a complex story in very readable way. From the first page, the reader can picture what the Scouts look like, their personalities and their devotion to accomplishing the mission at all costs. This is not "dry" history! Zedric breathes life into the characters and puts the reader alongside the commandos in a rubber boat or deep in a tropical jungle. But the author does not embellish. He didn't need to--what the Alamo Scouts accomplished needed no embellishment. Zedric has done a masterful job in telling their story--one which should have been told years ago. A must read

When an author combines research findings with the aggregate information and knowledge born of his or her background, experience, environment, upbringing and training, the fortunate result can be a book like this one. It's content is a near-ideal melding of an author's acquired professional skills and his evident personal predilections. To paraphrase Aaron Copland, the dean of American composers, "If it's in the writing, it's in the man." As we're often defined (or even judged) by our choice of friends, we're often best represented by the results of our own work.

David Crockett was a frontiersman and adventurer (and a hunter, farmer, businessman, veteran of the Creek Indian War, town commissioner, militia colonel and Tennessee state legislator), who served for a time as a United States congressman. He was not a congressman who spent time as a frontiersman and adventurer. The very existence of this book exemplifies the principle of priority, a concept from which many of us could learn. The author of this work has evidently set a goal, which he's clearly met, of producing a book that can be read and enjoyed by the reader, not merely examined and studied by the scholar (though even they should surely benefit from it). The author, an educator, discusses matters that would be of interest to virtually anyone with even an indirect interest in Western history.

It seems the book's intent is for expanse and diversity rather than depth. This is not a negative judgement but a positive observation: there's no other book quite like it so its singularity makes it quite special. Seek not here thy standard detailed biographies - thou shalt not find them. There are countless tomes about Western history generally, Texas history specifically, and the Alamo in particular with its countless sub-species (biographies of Bowie, Crockett, Travis, volumes about the collective defenders, their descendants, etc). This book provides something rather unique, which adds to its value: a compendium of fascinating details that would be difficult, if not altogether impossible, to find in any other single volume. It can, indeed, be a blessing to the researcher and surely a delight to the reader.

Of particular interest is the Alamo Chronology, offering a virtually year-by-year account of the location and its events, and presenting a veritable Alamo timetable in microcosm. The Alamo from A to Z, the book's longest section, offers data too abundant even to summarize here, and defies description. Suffice it to say it's a virtual treasury of information, facts, tidbits and fascinating details, allowing us to vicariously do our own excavations on the Alamo grounds. The section titled Alamo Lists includes (but isn't limited to) rosters of the defenders, the survivors, the couriers, the best Alamo books, and even the best actors in Alamo films. Operatively, the book covers the Alamo in all its incarnations - from the historical and iconic entity to its popular cultural image.

The book contains both photos and well-executed illustrations by various people. One warranting mention is the superb rendering by California artist, blade collector and Bowie historian Joseph Musso, picturing the three most prominent Alamo defenders: Crockett, Bowie and Travis. Outstanding and fascinating maps of the actual assaults are provided by artist Rod Timanus.

Perhaps the most compelling illustration, however, is the reproduction of an 1849 Daguerreotype. It's compelling because it offers us a literal glimpse into the past: it's the only known photographic image of the Alamo showing the chapel as it looked (if not literally, then surely effectively) at the time of the siege - that is, BEFORE its distinctive hump was added to the upper façade by the U.S.Army in 1850. It seems more than just coincidence that the Alamo is the subject of this, the earliest datable photographic image taken in Texas and a mere 13 years from glory. By its very immediacy, the appearance of this picture in William Chemerka's book seems to enlarge and strengthen the links in the chain that binds us to our own history.

One can easily foresee the entirely predictable objections and ludicrous reactions the book will prompt from some quarters. We can safely anticipate the claim by some academics that it's not source material for scholars. Well, maybe this book isn't SUPPOSED to be. - - We must recognize that some people are hard of reading, being unable (or worse, unwilling) to gauge a finished, integral work by its own intrinsic value, and to understand and appreciate it for what it is. They prefer instead to view it tangentially, and to focus on what it is not. Alas this postural view is often taken in academe and is popularly known as a cop-out.

If this book isn't a be-all and end-all of Alamo history and won't be everything to everyone, it's because it isn't its purpose. It's not for those who get annoyed because goldfish aren't trained to do tricks or because dogs don't live in fish tanks. Those who can gauge something on its own merits are the exceptions, not the rule - but they're the gems in the settings of an author's readership. Those who would benefit most by this volume and would respond most positively to it are those with the prudence and integrity to form their own opinions and draw their own conclusions. This principle brings to mind a relevant remark, made by Beethoven: when asked by the violinist Radicati about "the meaning" of the composer's late string quartets (virtually avant-garde music in his day), Beethoven replied in the most matter-of-fact manner and without a trace of conceit, "Oh, those are not for you, but for a later age."

Those academics who might not consider the contents of this book "source material for scholars" would be revealing more about themselves than about the book. For readers, it's superb material and is, in a phrase, highly recommended as an invaluable "at your fingertips" tool - for anyone - both as a reference work and as very enjoyable, even fascinating and, perhaps more importantly, enlightening reading.

JEFFREY DANE

I enjoyed the well researched informative facts provided by the author. Mr. Chemerka has not tried to provide an in depth analysis of the fictional and non-fictional accounts although he does take editorial license here and there. Nonetheless, it is valuable to any Alamo researcher.

Nofi's book is a particularly well researched and documented work on the fight for Texas Independence from Mexico. A wealth of information is packed into slightly more than 200 pages. It is written without bias and takes a look at some of the many legends of this struggle and seperates fact from fiction. The numerous sidebars within this book offer additional insight to the persons involved, weapons systems, order of battle, and other interesting subjects that give the reader a wider view of was happening during that era. The book is a recommended read and would be impressive for anyone even vaguely interested in Texas history.

This has to be the best book on the subject. Well laid out and well done. Anything less than 5 stars is an underestimate of just how good this book is.

"One wife can be all things to a man," spoke Marcian, the Roman centurion-turned-Christian (played by Jeff Chandler) in the 1955 film, "Sign of the Pagan." Ironically, he said it to perhaps the foremost polygamous pagan of them all, Attila the Hun (portrayed by Jack Palance). Attila's calm but disarming response carried a paradoxical logic: "How can a man know which wife is best, unless he can choose from among many?"

The underlying concept corresponds to the content of this fascinating book by Frank Thompson: it places before us a powder-horn of plenty, from which pour details and keen observations that enable us to feast on a banquet of enlightening historical tidbids and informational delicacies.

The second part of Chapter 1 is very fittingly sub-titled, "The Shifting Face of the Alamo - a Visual Essay." A real value of this section is that it encapsulates the evolution of the visual depictions of the Alamo throughout the decades. Though relatively short, the section offers a chronological series of illustrations of the shrine. Among them is the historic 1849 daguerreotype, the first known photographic image made in Texas and the only known such photo of the Alamo without its now-defining campanulate roof, added by the U.S. Army not long after that daguerreotype was made. One of the book's more illuminating gems is that the author informs us of artist and Alamo historian Craig Covner's conjectural but very plausible theory, about which particular European structure might have influenced the design and prompted the shape of the Alamo's operatively now world-recognized façade.

The book would appeal to both the scholar and the general audience, for there's much in it that would interest both. It's infinitely more readable and enjoyable than the traditional dry academic dissertation, while offering us glimpses into the past and even insights into historical events and the people who took part in them. Without claiming clairvoyance, one could say that the most avid fan of a book like this would be the intelligent and astute reader who has any interest in the Alamo and its sub-categories. What's more, it could easily prompt and intensify a regard for the subject from others whose interest might be only peripheral to begin with.

By their own procedural history, the actions of some are entirely predictable. "The quintessential professor straightening out the errant student" is a perceptive remark, laden with insight, by historian Bill Groneman, which will exemplify the kind of reaction and objections from some academics to Thompson's volume. We can easily foresee academic hard-liners trying to trivialize this book because it doesn't suit their own scholastic purposes and follow the traditionally expected collegiate formulas for presenting historical source material. We should be mindful, however, that this isn't the aim and purpose of Thompson's book. Its very title is aptly descriptive but shouldn't be taken literally, for although the book does indeed present a cultural history, it also offers a sensible and well-reasoned historical account. After all, culture is part of our history as much as history is part of our culture. The account in this book is one with which some hard-of-reading academics might still take issue in some of its details - but from which many of Thompson's readers could learn, and of which many authors would be proud. The content and tone of negative criticism usually reveals far more about the critic - where he's coming from and where he's going - than about the work on which he's commenting. In academe, one's behavior in reporting on another's book can speak volumes.

Photos abound in this book. One is from the film "The Man From The Alamo" (1953), in which a young, pre-"Wyatt Earp" Hugh O'Brian (who portrays Lt. Tom Lamar in the film) is seen walking, in buckskins, hot on the heels of Glenn Ford. Also pictured are some of the "new" Alamos - structures built to resemble the Shrine of Texas Liberty, including a copy center in Cypress, Texas, and a ballroom & convention center in El Paso. Some might call these buildings as pretentious and prosaic as the "fooferai" worn by some of the characters in Alamo-related films; others would view these structures as being visually pleasing, entertaining curiosities and rather enjoyable and even fascinating to see. In context, a fine song can be just as gratifying as a fine symphony.

Among the book's wealth of illustrations are photos of four of the actors who over the years have portrayed on film the man who was operatively responsible for what became perhaps the greatest single traumatic event in southwestern American history during the first half of the nineteenth century, and whose revealing sense of modesty prompted him to call himself "The Napoleon of the West": His Excellency, El Presidente y Generalissimo Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna y Peréz de Lebrón. Debatably the most visually convincing cinematic Santa Anna might have been J. Carrol Naish, who portrayed the Mexican general in "The Last Command" (1955), and who brought a subdued but very real kind of palpable humanity to the role that's rare in such portrayals. Photographic images of the real subject indicate a remarkable visual likeness between the two men. In character, Naish bears an almost uncanny resemblance to the historical Santa Anna. While they're not actual "clones," the features and facial structures correspond, making Naish persuasively credible in the role. Parenthetically, the same can be said of actor David Keith's arrestingly believable portrayal of James Bowie in James Michener's "Texas."

One of this book's many advantages is that it offers particulars that would be unavailable elsewhere in a single volume. It would impress readers as a rather thorough compendium of both factual details and conceptual notions about the history and popular culture of the Alamo. Does this book by Frank Thompson contribute to our fascination with and our enjoyment and knowledge of the Alamo in virtually all its incarnations? "It do."

...

From the perspective of the common man, I can say that I know more about the historical Alamo than ever.

This book offers a broad review of the Alamo and it's place in our history as well as it's impact on our culture. I was very impressed with this book. I picked it up only to paw through and look at the numerous pictures and movie stills and found it to be thoroughly informative and entertaining.

Mr. Thompson may offer some information that distorts or contradicts what you thought you knew about the Alamo, but it's worth the exposure to his insights and opinions.

Without doubt, this is the finest account of the technical aspects of the race to produce an atomic weapon at Los Alamos before the end of WWII. As other reviewers have noted, you don't need a degree in physics to read this book; however, you do need endurance.

"Critical Assembly" is a plodding, straightforward, chronological narrative of how talent and materials came together to make a bomb; a techno-nerd's dream. There is no attempt to delve into politics and ethics, make the characters "come alive" with interesting personal glimpses, or place it all in historical perspective. For that you need Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."

Still, the authors did not write "Critical Assembly" to be a riveting historical novel soon to be a blockbuster movie. For technical information, it is the best single book available. To understand why anyone would care how the atomic bomb was made, let alone plod through the technical details, read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" first.

This book is THRILLING in the scope and depth of its description of HOW the bomb was made. This was a unique historical event in that the best brains in the world, stimulated by a sense of extreem urgency and given, in effect, unlimited physical and financial resources accomplished in the space of three years somthing that in the 1930's was considered as Science Fiction.

The book is highly readable and understandable by non technical people. This book is proof that "once upon a time" we did things "Right the First Time" in this country. An outstanding historical and technical account of the "ultimate" invention.

Very well written and does not overwhelm the reader with technical minutia. This is an excellent companion to Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb and will please any student of the history of science.

"A Spy Within" is a terrific story of intrigue based loosely on the facts surrounding the Soviet Union's acquisition of U.S. atomic secrets following World War II. The author does a great job of developing the central characters.

I couldn't put the book down and really enjoyed the resolution of the plot. All in all, it was a very entertaining book that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery.

While the jacket blurb was interesting, I had no idea this would be such a smooth, fast read -- hard to put down! You really get to know Patrice, the main character. She talks a lot and you are with her constantly. The author makes a couple of interesting choices about what Patrice will (or will not) do, and by the end of the book you are more than ready to read another one -- not available yet, sad to say. You don't need to be a Los Alamos history buff to enjoy the plot, but you will learn something along the way despite yourself. Put it on your gift list!

As opposed to a lot of mystery/spy books, I found this one to have both an interesting story and a realistic heroine (Patrice). I've read a little about what Los Alamos was like back in the Manhattan Project days and it was nice to read a story set there today. Times have changed a lot but it's still an interesting place and a great setting for intrigue. While reading the novel, I couldn't help but make comparisons to today's very real search for what terror may lurk beneath the surface of our society.

The books fails to cover the security aspects
of the Wen Ho Lee case accurately. This is
more dissappointing considering Hoffman did
covered the security aspects at the Los Alamos Labs
in his original newspaper articles but such
coverage did not make it to this book.

Hoffman and Stober incorrectly refers to Wen Ho Lee's
data as classified when infact the data was technically
not considered classifed when Wen Ho Lee was working
on them. Data security at Los Alamos is defined at
multiple levels. While Wen Ho Lee had a very high
security clearance, the software and data Wen Ho
Lee was working with was defined as "Protected As
Restricted Data"(PARD) which is not considered
classified but one step below it. Classified data
at the lab was defined as "Classified Restricted
Data" (CRD). The files that Wen Ho Lee copied onto
the infamous tapes were all PARD; however, after
the FBI found his backup tape notebook - the DOE
retroactively redefined the tapebackup data files
as CRD and "Top Secret"(TS). This allowed the
FBI to prosecute Wen Ho Lee as a felon. The
government ploy was to intimidate Wen Ho Lee
in hopes that they could get Wen Ho Lee to
disclose a spy handler or a spy ring.

Much of the data at Los Alamos is listed as PARD
because none of the researchers wants to go over
the many lines of code to determine if there were
any secrets worth protecting. In the past, efforts
by DOE intelligence to eliminate the PARD
classification has met with resistance from most
of the scientists at the atomic labs because
researchers found PARD useful in reducing the
security workload (so they could focus on their
work at advancing science and weapon technologies).
IIRC while the installation of PARD data on non
classified computers was against security
regulations - it was not a felony - one might
could lose one's security level or at worst be
dismissed. Reportedly more often than not the

mishandling of PARD data would only bring a
reprimand. Prosecution's argument for treating
the Wen Ho Lee case differently was that a
massive amount of data was involve. However,
Many of the lab scientists who normally work
with massive amounts of data felt that the
prosecution of Wen Ho Lee amounted to an
abuse of power by security. To make such
matters worst, it was disclosed that CIA Dir
John Deutch was caught editing Top Secret documents
on home computer which was not approved
as a classified computer ( FBI officials were
relucant to prosecute Deutch. Deutch's case
was a source of embarassment to the Clinton
administration. John Deutch case was
closed when he was pardon by President Clinton.
Wen Ho Lee however was unable to get a
presidential pardon. )

Hoffman and Stober's puts a great deal of effort in
describing the case against Wen Ho Lee. The book
reads rather unevenly. In general, when the book
describes possible error or problems with government
agents like Trulock and Dan Bruno, the authors
immediately provide a defenses or alibi to deny
any wrongdoing or dismissing any error. However,
in general when the book presences evidence against
Wen Ho Lee the author do not provide any immediate
defense for Wen Ho Lee but rather tries to build
up Wen Ho Lee as the mystery man; the reader has
to wait until the end of the book for Wen Ho Lee's
defense. I suppose this was for dramatic buildup?
In writing this book the authors acknowlegde
they had immediate access to the government agents.
The book's acknowlegdement seems to indicate
that the authors did not have immediate access
to Wen Ho Lee - who was writing his own book
about his experience.

This book could have been the definitive, unbiased account of this whole ugly situation. Unfortunately, the authors appear to have had very little access to Lee himself, or his family, and so this book does not feel complete. This book is strongest when discussing the failings of the FBI and CIA, but it is weaker when discussing their main subject, Wen Ho Lee. Stober and Hoffman's depiction of Lee sometimes seems unnecessarily dark, like the shadowy picture of Lee on the book cover. For example, they exonerate him as a spy, but repeatedly mention that Lee was a mediocre talent at the labs. Huh? So why was he hired at the height of the Cold War by an elite lab that could have gotten anybody it wanted?

I also wonder how well the authors understand Lee and his background. For example, they accept at face value reports that Lee was seen hugging a foreign weapons scientist, suggesting suspicious intimacy with the "enemy". But Lee himself always strenuously denied that the "hug" ever took place, and I believe him for the simple reason that showing physical intimacy in public is not terribly common between most Asians, particularly among the older generation. Hoffman and Stober choose to believe a culturally incongruous report, and not Lee. Why?

Did Stober and Hoffman not push hard enough for more access to Lee and his family? Was Lee advised by his lawyers not to talk to Stober and Hoffman? Whatever the case, this book missed a golden opportunity to present two complete sides of a very complicated case. The authors probably did the best they could with the material they had, and their descriptions of Lee's egomaniac accusers Notra Trulock and Bill Richardson are very eye-opening. However, the title should be reversed to "The Politics of Nuclear Espionage, and Wen Ho Lee".

The characters are so alive. It's almost like watching a movie.

In one occasion, Wen Ho¡¦s son, Chung, was questioned about any gambling loss their family had on their stops in Las Vegas, so that a connection between huge gambling loss and a motive to spy can be drawn. But only to find out yes, there was loss, about 50 dollars. And that made Wen Ho very upset and stop playing for a long time. Dud. I can imagine how this scene can be played in a movie.

Authors went through a large variety of sources to write this book. This book is well titled: ¡§¡Kand the politics of Nuclear Espionage¡¨

Due to the fact that authors were not able to interview Lee for first hand information, (probably at the advice of Lee's lawyers) there is an apparent lacking of Lee¡¦s view. But that perspective is complimented in his own book: ¡§My Country versus Me¡¨, which I just read, a wonderful book too.

However, there is a more serious aspect. Although authors examined in detail about Las Alamos Lab, FBI, DOE, DOJ, there is a unbalanced lacking of behind the scene stories on news media. Among all the mighty powers controlling the fate of Lee, New York Times, Washington Post and Times were as influential as DOE, DOJ and FBI. There is no scrutiny of any of them at all, neither media bosses nor the corresponds. Authors missed that part of the democracy system completely. Well, to be optimistic, we might expect those stories to appear in ¡§A Convenient Spy II¡¨. Just like those popular movies.

This book comes in for a lot of criticism, especially regarding the events at the Alamo. However, the book is well written and provides a great deal of insight into the plight of the Mexican soldier and the lack of military responsiblity on the part of the command of the Mexican army. The route of the army in and out of Texas is accurate, as is the description of the retreat. In reading the book, it appeared that a good deal of the content was used as background for Stephen Harrigan's "The Gates of the Alamo" (a highly recommended read). For Texas history buffs, the de la Pena book is one you should read.

Questions of authenticity aside (for readers interested in tracing the arguments, I would recommend James E. Crisp's "The Little Book that Wasn't There: The Myth and Mystery of the de la Peña Diary" in the October 1994 Southwestern Historical Quarterly, and Bill Groneman's "The Death of a Legend"), this book is worth reading. The narrator voices his frustration at command mistakes made during the invasion of Texas, a theme that threads the journal episodes together. Poor planning and execution doomed what should have been a successful military venture. The book is very readable, and passages that catalog plant life are beautifully written.

Those well-versed in the Alamo story will spot mistakes in the narrative. (My favorite was Peña's misidentification of Travis. And why not? The Alamo defenders were foreign strangers to the Mexican army. How could they be expected to correctly identify anyone?) Those hoping for definitive answers as to the fate of Davy Crockett, though, will likely be disappointed. Peña's account differs in enough important details from other contemporary accounts (number of survivors, manner of death) so as to cast doubt on the author's claim that he witnessed the events. Perhaps he cobbled his memories together with bits of camp gossip. (This isn't so surprising: the fans who claimed to have witnessed Bobby Thompson's home run against Ralf Branca couldn't have fit in three baseball stadiums.) When Peña states, "my ear can still hear the penetrating, doleful sound of the victims," I believe he is embellishing. Still, the passage is, like any skillful fiction, powerful and compelling.

Twenty-five years ago the De la Peña diary breathed new life into the old story of the Texas Revolution. The controversy over the authenticity of the diary continues the process by showing its impact on people today. View this story on the VHS documentary The De la Peña Diary: A memoir of the Texas Revolution including the death of Davy Crockett also available through Amazon.