David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man

In this new entry in the American Heroes series, Groneman wants to retrieve a ""genuine American hero"" from ""the dense forests and misleading paths of revisionist history"" surrounding him. Series editor Dale L. Walker notes that the Tennessean's image was fabricated by himself and others, ""a mixture of tall tale and half-truth leavened by the occasional fact."" The image of Crockett as an uncouth backwoods buffoon was spread in his own lifetime by a play featuring a character named Nimrod Wildfire inspired partly by Crockett, and later by folklore and Crockett almanacs. Wading through ""rivers of myths"" to present the historical figure, Groneman, a retired member of the New York City Fire Department who has written extensively about the Alamo and Crockett (Eyewitness to the Alamo), erases this image, unveiling a handsome portrait of ""the Honorable David Crockett, husband, father, farmer, hunter, soldier, legislator, United States congressman, author, and genuine American hero."" He tells how Crockett volunteered to fight in the War of 1812, displayed courage and resilience as a fighter and frontiersman, parlaying his good humor and lack of pretension into a political career. Groneman succeeds in re-establishing Crockett's reputation. Two concluding chapters are devoted to clarifying the controversy surrounding Crockett's death.