The Diezmo

A gut-wrenching adventure, The Diezmo tells the story of one of the most absurd and tragic military adventures in American history. In the early days of the Republic of Texas, two young men, barely sixteen years old and wild for glory, impulsively volunteer for a military expedition assigned to patrol the Mexican border. After being captured in a raid on the Mexican village of Mier, the men of the expedition are sentenced to the grisly diezmo, in which a random selection by bean lottery condemns one man in ten to death. The imprisoned survivors make a desperate last-ditch bid for freedom -- with tragic results.

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A novel based on the real-life incident of the Mier Expedition, one of the most tragic events in Texas history, follows two young men on an expedition to the Mexican border, during which they are captured in a raid on the Mexcian village of Mier and end up as pawns in an international chess game that will determine the fate of Texas. Reader's Guide available. Reprint.

RICK BASS is the author of many acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction. His first short story collection, The Watch, set in Texas, won the PEN/Nelson Algren Award, and his 2002 collection, The Hermit’s Story, was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. The Lives of Rocks was a finalist for the Story Prize and was chosen as a Best Book of the Year by the Rocky Mountain News. Bass’s stories have also been awarded the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Award and have been collected in The Best American Short Stories.