Under Six Flags: The Story of Texas

Texas has been claimed by six different flags across centuries of conquest, rebellion, and stubborn independence. M. E. M. Davis chronicles this remarkable journey from the first Spanish expeditions through the French trading posts, Mexican rule, the desperate years of the Republic, the Civil War, and final statehood. The narrative captures the individuals who shaped this rebellious land: the missionaries, the settlers, the revolutionaries at the Alamo, and the visionaries who dared to dream of a nation called Texas. Written in the late 19th century when memory of these events was still fresh, Davis offers a perspective that treats the Republic of Texas not as ancient history but as a living memory, one that still pulsed through the veins of the state. This is frontier history at its most visceral, populated by figures whose courage and cruelty, ambition and sacrifice built something that never quite fit into any nation that claimed it. For readers who want to understand how a territory becomes a legend, Under Six Flags remains an essential window into the making of an American myth.