Short Synopsis
Steeped in legend and shrouded in folklore, the real David Crockett, American frontiersman and cultural icon, finally emerges in this engrossing biography.

Full Synopsis
His name was David Crockett. He never signed his name any other way, but popular culture transformed his memory into "Davy Crockett," and Hollywood gave him a raccoon hat he hardly ever wore. Bestselling historian Michael Wallis casts a fresh look at the frontiersman, storyteller, and politician behind these legendary stories.

Born into a humble Tennessee family in 1786, Crockett never "killed him a b'ar" when he was only three. But he did cut a huge swath across early-nineteenth-century America—as a bear hunter, a frontier explorer, a soldier serving under Andrew Jackson, an unlikely congressman, and, finally, a martyr in his now-controversial death at the Alamo. Wallis's David Crockett is more than a riveting story. It is a revelatory, authoritative biography that separates fact from fiction, providing us with an extraordinary evocation of a true American hero and the rough-and-tumble times in which he lived.

"Wallis adroitly separates fact from fiction and shows us both the flawed human being who led a colorful life and the symbolic figure who represented the poor and downtrodden as well as the country's philosophy of 'Manifest Destiny.'" ---BookPage

"A readable and folksy account of the actual facts of Crockett's life." ---Library Journal

"An excellent study likely to tick off the hagiographers." ---Kirkus

"Wallis' examination of the man behind the myth is both well written and engrossing; yet, he succeeds primarily in revealing the contradictions in Crockett's life, without adequately explaining what molded them." ---Booklist