American Legend : The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett

by Levy, Buddy

• ISBN13: 9780425210086
• ISBN10: 0425210081
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-12-05
• Publisher: Berkley Trade

Summary

THE REAL KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER David Crockett was an adventurer, a pioneer, and a media-savvy national celebrity. In his short-but-distinguished lifetime, this charismatic frontiersman won three terms as a U.S. congressman and a presidential nomination. His 1834 memoir enjoyed frenzied sales and prompted the first-ever "official" book tour for its enormously popular author. Down-to-earth, heroic, and independent to a fault, the real Crockett became lost in his own hype-and he's been overshadowed by a larger-than-life pop-culture character in a coonskin cap. Now, American Legenddebunks the tall tales to reveal the fascinating truth of Crockett's hardscrabble childhood, his near-death experiences, his unlikely rise to Congress-and the controversial last stand at the Alamo that mythologized him beyond recognition. In this beautifully written narrative, Crockett emerges as never before-a rugged individual, a true American original, and an enduring symbol of the Western frontier.

Author Biography

Buddy Levy is a journalist who has covered adventure sports and lifestyles around the world. He is assistant clinical professor of English at Washington State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Prologue	1	(4)
Origins	5	(13)
Runaway	18	(6)
The Dutiful Son Becomes a Man	24	(13)
``My Dander Was Up''	37	(22)
``Mounted Gunman''	59	(15)
Trials on the Homefront	74	(19)
``The Gentleman from the Cane''	93	(28)
``Neck or Nothing''	121	(20)
Political Reality	141	(17)
Crockett's Declaration of Independence	158	(22)
``Nimrod Wildfire'' and ``The Lion of the West''	180	(16)
A Bestseller and a Book Tour	196	(16)
``That Fickle, Flirting Goddess'' Fame	212	(18)
Lone Star on the Horizon	230	(20)
``Victory or Death''	250	(18)
Smoke from a Funeral Pyre	268	(20)
Epilogue	288	(11)
Notes	299	(27)
Bibliography	326	(11)
Index	337