James Michener's "The Eagle and Research Paper

Sam Houston ended up being the Cherokee spokesman in Washington, and went on to lead Texas to independence. Santa Anna rose through the ranks of the Spanish army due to his heroism -- or at least his ability to draw attention to himself -- and managed to retain and even increase his power in an independent Mexico. It was the specific, individual personalities of these two men that allowed them to shape history in the way they did, and this concept is clear in the earliest details of their lives as told by Michener.

This is not to say that Michener describes the two men as the same. Though both were involved heavily in the political and military actions of their countries, they did so in different ways. Santa Anna is portrayed as power-hungry and very politically driven, changing sides when necessary and playing the game of politics to get what he wants. In the end, he ceded huge amounts of territory to the United States in an attempt to gain favor, but his own country turned against him and he died an un-heroic pauper.Sam Houston, on the other hand, is what we might consider a maverick of politics, doing his own thing in his own very skilled and very effective way. In this book, he is shown as a larger-than-life adventurer; the prototypical Texan.

Though this book tells a lot bout early Texas and American -- and Mexican -- history, I would not really recommend it. It is written in a fairly dry style, without much sense of a real story. The subjects and events discussed are very interesting, but the method in which they are presented is not. There are books that probably offer a more detailed account of the history, if that is what a reader is interested in. If not, there are far more exciting novels about the time period than this tome. Still, it is a decent combination of novel and history, just not too exciting......