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David Crockett –
Hero of the Common Man
Forge Books, 2005
ISBN 0-765-31067-8
“In this uncommon biography of America's
frontier symbol of the common man, Bill Groneman brings back to life one
of our nation's most heroic characters. With a wit and style to match his
subject, Groneman restores Davy Crockett to his rightful status as a
towering figure in American history and folklore.”—Paul Andrew Hutton,
University of New Mexico
“William Groneman's new biography of David
Crockett continues his fine work clearing away the myths that the passage
of time has built up around the story of the Alamo. Crockett was
undoubtedly the greatest of the heroes to emerge from that tragic
encounter between the champions of an independent Texas republic and the
defender of Mexican hegemony, yet he was also the dubious beneficiary of
legends created by eastern writers who manufactured "Davy" Crockett out of
the whole cloth of rumor and hearsay. Groneman traces the Tennessean's
life from a humble, hardscrabble childhood to a heroic career as
frontiersman, hunter and soldier, whose local fame boosted his political
career as state legislator then as congressman in Washington. A
Jacksonian Democrat who eventually opposed President Jackson's policies
regarding western settlers and the Cherokee Indians, Crockett was in all
things fearlessly independent, and Groneman demonstrates how his martyrdom
at the Alamo was in many ways incidental to his arrival in Texas in search
of another place to establish his family yet consistent with his past
record as a courageous frontier soldier and political champion of the
common man. Meticulously researched and written in a plain and graceful
style that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish, Groneman has
given us an account of Crockett's life that will be a standard against
which to measure all others.”—John Seelye, University of Florida; editor,
On to the Alamo Colonel
Crockett’s Exploits and Adventures in Texas
“For years William Groneman has been among the
most provocative students of our greatest folk hero. In DAVID CROCKETT,
HERO OF THE COMMON MAN, he presents an excellent biography of Crockett in
brief compass, in the process examining the continuing attempts of each
generation to reshape the myth of a man who simply refuses to cease being
a hero.”—William C. Davis, historian, author of Three Roads to the
Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of
David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis
“For over 170
years the Davy Crockett of myth and legend has overshadowed the David
Crockett of history. However, William Groneman III appropriately shifts
the focus to the real frontier figure and Alamo defender in David
Crockett: Hero of the Common Man,
an insightful and
interesting examination of a unique 19th century American hero."—William
R. Chemerka, Founder: The Alamo Society, Editor:
The Crockett Chronicle
“Bill Groneman's 'David Crockett: Hero of the
Common Man' is a fresh and highly readable new look at one of the most
endearing frontier characters in American history. Groneman manages to
humanize the Crockett of legend and lore without demeaning him and in the
process brings the author's years of incisive Crockett research into
carefully studied play. The author successfully challenges many modern
politically correct assumptions that may have far more 'feet of clay' then
the genuinely admirable David Crockett himself. A must read for anyone
interested in the real Crockett, the Alamo and a truly adventurous and
important time in our nation's past.”—Dan Gagliasso - Spur Award Winner -
Best Documentary Film - "Boone & Crockett; the Hunter Heroes"\
“Bill Groneman is one of America's leading and
most trusted authorities on David Crockett and the Alamo. His latest
contribution to the scholarly literature, David Crockett: Hero of the
Common Man, is a concise, no nonsense, and fast-paced biography of
the stubborn and courageous frontiersman who cut a wide swath through
America while alive and an even wider swath through legend and history
following his death.”—Roger D. McGrath, Historian, author of
Gunfighters, Highwaymen, &
Vigilantes
“I have known Bill Groneman for a number of
years and know that his researches and writings in Texas history, the
Alamo and in particular Davy Crockett, is very impressive. I salute
him both for his career as a Captain of the New York City Fire Department
and for this splendid new book on David Crockett, one of America's
favorite heroes."—Fess Parker, actor, “Davy Crockett: King of the wild
Frontier”
“[A] lean and lucid biography…. A small survey
of many virtues; it holds to the middle ground between hagiography and
debunking, making allowances for Crockett’s lapses into bad behavior while
highlighting his better qualities.”—Kirkus Review
"Bill Groneman writes like a NASCAR competitor drives: totally focused
with his foot on the accelerator. And like a fan at the Daytona is
unable to take his eyes off the race, the reader is unable to put down
Groneman's biography of Davy Crockett. Part of the reason is the
subject: Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, as he is called in
the Disney version of his life. the rest of the reason is that Groneman
is possible the best writer of nonfiction for the general reader writing
today. Like a good novelist Groneman is master of the "hook," that
elusive first sentence or paragraph that grabs the reader and hauls him
into the story, not to let him go until the last page.... Groneman
reveals many facets of Crockett's life -- "husband, father, farmer,
hunter, soldier, legislator, United States congressman, author, and
genuine American hero."—Doris Meredith, Roundup Magazine
