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David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man
Perhaps no other figure in American history is more shrouded in myth and legend than David ("Davy") Crockett, the Tennessee frontiersman whose death at the Alamo in 1836 insured his place in the Valhalla of American heroes.A gregarious, fun-loving man, Crockett was capable of spinning the tallest of tales, but the truth of his life was far more fascinating than the myth. His hunting and exploration adventures, his service as a soldier under Andrew Jackson in the Creek Indian War of 1813, his rise in politics to the United States Congress, his incessant search for "elbow room" that took him to Texas - these were the real fabric of a heroic life.In writing of the historical Crockett, Groneman dispels the myths to discover the genuine hero beneath them. He writes at length of the defense of the Alamo, describes how Crockett's reputation and heroism have been tainted by revisionist historians, and presents new evidence that the Tennessean's heroics during the siege have, if anything, been understated.
208 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
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November 9, 2019
William Groneman III is a national hero who was the company commander of Engine 308 at Ground Zero just hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He retired from the FDNY after an impressive twenty-four-year career and began to pursue his passion for studying the Battle of the Alamo and the life of one its greatest heroes, Davy Crockett. Groneman is considered a world authority on Davy Crockett and has published several books including Eyewitness to the Alamo, Death of a Legend – the Myth and Mystery Surrounding the Death of Davy Crockett, Battlefields of Texas, and Alamo Defenders. In this newest installment to his already impressive resume, William Groneman cuts through the myth to uncover the real Davy Crockett in an exciting, fast-paced, and well-researched book.
David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man is an in-depth account of Crockett’s life starting at his birth until his untimely death at the Battle of the Alamo. Groneman goes out of his way to provide details that are little-known to even the most ardent Crockett scholars; he even explores some of the controversies surrounding Crockett's death. The aspects of Crockett's early life give a greater understanding to the man he became, and the reason for the myth that eventually shrouded him from his contemporaries and historians alike. A legend in his own time, much of what is believed about Crockett is folklore, but as Groneman points out, the truth is sometimes more impressive than the myth. The focus on the larger than life accounts of David Crockett gets a relook in Hero of the Common Man, and as each chapter slips by, the real story emerges. David Crockett was a man of conviction who lived out exactly what he said, he was a hard worker who never gave up, he lived by the motto “be always sure you’re right – then go ahead,” and when the time came he volunteered to fight for his country to the death.
Groneman does an excellent job of recounting the important lessons in Crockett's early life by giving vivid examples of how those events shaped him into the man he would become. Many books on Crockett such as David Crockett: The Lion of the West by Michael Wallis give an account of Crockett’s early life, but none go into the vivid detail that Hero of the Common Man depicts. From the beginning, Groneman presents the Crockett infant narrative by giving facts derived from his good friend and well known "Crockettologist" Paul Hutton. The combination of words taken from Crockett's journal and the exhaustive research of Groneman detail Crockett's early life in a new and exciting way. Far from the Disney version of events, Crockett was not "born on a mountaintop" but was born in a log cabin near Limestone Creek in what is modern day Greene Country, Tennessee. Groneman’s account gives a new look at Crockett's rough childhood of hard labor and isolation from family. From such a tragic upbringing Crockett learned the value of hard work, honesty, and love which will serve him well throughout his life.
Jumping straight into Crockett’s military career, Hero of the Common Man recounts the time he spent as a volunteer in the Tennessee militia fighting the Creek Indians. As a volunteer, Crockett did not fight on the front lines; he undertook the task of doing what he enjoyed, hunting. Groneman goes into too much detail about Crockett's hunting prowess; he could have edited much of this for a more concise portrayal of Crockett's military career. The story picks back up with Crockett as a scout who could sneak in and out of Indian territory unnoticed. His time as a volunteer brought Davy Crockett into direct contact with his fellow Tennessean General Andrew Jackson, and it would affect him both positively and negatively for the rest of his life. Groneman ties the events of Crockett's early life to his later life in a seamless fashion. However, if he had narrowed his scope slightly, he could have made the story smoother and more enjoyable.
Groneman very quickly recounts many of the misfortunes that beset Crockett, including the death of his first wife Polly, a business venture gone wrong, and an illness that almost killed him. Instead of focusing on these life-altering events, Groneman skips ahead to a more prosperous time in which Crockett is remarried to his second wife Elizabeth, and has become an accidental candidate for magistrate, a race which he wins. Groneman could have widened the scope of his research here to give a more detailed explanation of how Crockett came to a low point in his life, which led to his rebirth and rise to fame. Setbacks in life are what make people stronger and that is true in this case as well, more nuanced research would have given a more in-depth look at this pivotal period in a young Davy Crockett's life.
Without delay, Groneman jumps straight into Crockett’s days in the House of Representatives. Crockett spent much of his time working to pass his signature land bill which would give a voice to Tennessee land squatters, and Groneman spent much of his time reading Mr. Crockett Goes to Washington by Robert Palmquist. There is no original research done in this part of the book, and he does not consult one primary source. Groneman claims that Crockett spent much of his time in Washington upsetting the Tennessee delegation, which included James K. Polk and Andrew Jackson. He opposed almost every proposal they made, bringing Crockett into direct conflict with Jackson. The two men adamantly opposed one another, and Groneman states, "the major rift with Jackson occurred over the Indian Removal Bill." (97) The feud between these two Tennesseans led to Crockett losing his reelection in 1831 and drove him West; he said to his constituents, "you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas." (134)
Groneman does not reveal any new or exciting information about Crockett after presenting his childhood until the end of the book and the Battle of the Alamo. He often recounts the same stories told in other books and uses a series of secondary sources to amass his information. What Hero of the Common Man does well at the beginning of the book by giving unique insight into the early life of David Crockett, it loses towards the middle as the story begins to become repetitive of what other scholars have already written. Where Gronemann excels is in the retelling of how Crockett traveled to Texas and made it to the Alamo. William Groneman is a world-renowned expert on the Battle of the Alamo, and he recounts the fight with Santa Anna's army in a day-by-day chronology that keeps the scenery vivid and exciting. Just as remarkable as the Battle of the Alamo is, the controversy of how Crockett died is equally impressive, and one that this book explores. The conventional theory of Crockett’s death is that he died fighting like a hero, but new evidence from one of Santa Anna's soldiers says that Crockett was captured and later shot. Groneman points out that he "referred to material previously published in his book Death of a Legend” for information regarding the alternative death narrative. (195) Hero of the Common Man does not disappoint regarding the Battle of the Alamo, which is where Groneman wanted to take the story all along.
Closing out the book Groneman looks at the legend of Davy Crockett which stayed popular and relevant for much of the nineteenth century, but as time passed so did the story. National interest was sparked once again in 1954 when Walt Disney came out with a three-part series called Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier starring Fess Parker. Groneman accurately states that "David Crockett came to national prominence at a time when the Founding Fathers were passing from the scene and the American identity was shifting from the Virginia aristocracy to the common man of the Western frontier." (189) In the mid-1950s the nation was again looking for a hero, and they found it in the form of a bear hunting, Indian fighting frontiersman.
Although much of William Goneman's book is not groundbreaking, it is still a fantastic read. It is well written, engaging, and a must-read for any Crockett enthusiast. There is some scholarly work done, especially when it comes to Crockett's early life and his death at the Alamo. Groneman is well known in the field and has done much of this research himself. David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man sets out to separate the man from the myth, and it does just that in a fun and educational way. Anyone who has read William Groneman’s other works knows the historical Davy Crockett is just as exciting as the mythical one, and the Battle of the Alamo is not the end of the Crockett story, it is just the beginning.
David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man is an in-depth account of Crockett’s life starting at his birth until his untimely death at the Battle of the Alamo. Groneman goes out of his way to provide details that are little-known to even the most ardent Crockett scholars; he even explores some of the controversies surrounding Crockett's death. The aspects of Crockett's early life give a greater understanding to the man he became, and the reason for the myth that eventually shrouded him from his contemporaries and historians alike. A legend in his own time, much of what is believed about Crockett is folklore, but as Groneman points out, the truth is sometimes more impressive than the myth. The focus on the larger than life accounts of David Crockett gets a relook in Hero of the Common Man, and as each chapter slips by, the real story emerges. David Crockett was a man of conviction who lived out exactly what he said, he was a hard worker who never gave up, he lived by the motto “be always sure you’re right – then go ahead,” and when the time came he volunteered to fight for his country to the death.
Groneman does an excellent job of recounting the important lessons in Crockett's early life by giving vivid examples of how those events shaped him into the man he would become. Many books on Crockett such as David Crockett: The Lion of the West by Michael Wallis give an account of Crockett’s early life, but none go into the vivid detail that Hero of the Common Man depicts. From the beginning, Groneman presents the Crockett infant narrative by giving facts derived from his good friend and well known "Crockettologist" Paul Hutton. The combination of words taken from Crockett's journal and the exhaustive research of Groneman detail Crockett's early life in a new and exciting way. Far from the Disney version of events, Crockett was not "born on a mountaintop" but was born in a log cabin near Limestone Creek in what is modern day Greene Country, Tennessee. Groneman’s account gives a new look at Crockett's rough childhood of hard labor and isolation from family. From such a tragic upbringing Crockett learned the value of hard work, honesty, and love which will serve him well throughout his life.
Jumping straight into Crockett’s military career, Hero of the Common Man recounts the time he spent as a volunteer in the Tennessee militia fighting the Creek Indians. As a volunteer, Crockett did not fight on the front lines; he undertook the task of doing what he enjoyed, hunting. Groneman goes into too much detail about Crockett's hunting prowess; he could have edited much of this for a more concise portrayal of Crockett's military career. The story picks back up with Crockett as a scout who could sneak in and out of Indian territory unnoticed. His time as a volunteer brought Davy Crockett into direct contact with his fellow Tennessean General Andrew Jackson, and it would affect him both positively and negatively for the rest of his life. Groneman ties the events of Crockett's early life to his later life in a seamless fashion. However, if he had narrowed his scope slightly, he could have made the story smoother and more enjoyable.
Groneman very quickly recounts many of the misfortunes that beset Crockett, including the death of his first wife Polly, a business venture gone wrong, and an illness that almost killed him. Instead of focusing on these life-altering events, Groneman skips ahead to a more prosperous time in which Crockett is remarried to his second wife Elizabeth, and has become an accidental candidate for magistrate, a race which he wins. Groneman could have widened the scope of his research here to give a more detailed explanation of how Crockett came to a low point in his life, which led to his rebirth and rise to fame. Setbacks in life are what make people stronger and that is true in this case as well, more nuanced research would have given a more in-depth look at this pivotal period in a young Davy Crockett's life.
Without delay, Groneman jumps straight into Crockett’s days in the House of Representatives. Crockett spent much of his time working to pass his signature land bill which would give a voice to Tennessee land squatters, and Groneman spent much of his time reading Mr. Crockett Goes to Washington by Robert Palmquist. There is no original research done in this part of the book, and he does not consult one primary source. Groneman claims that Crockett spent much of his time in Washington upsetting the Tennessee delegation, which included James K. Polk and Andrew Jackson. He opposed almost every proposal they made, bringing Crockett into direct conflict with Jackson. The two men adamantly opposed one another, and Groneman states, "the major rift with Jackson occurred over the Indian Removal Bill." (97) The feud between these two Tennesseans led to Crockett losing his reelection in 1831 and drove him West; he said to his constituents, "you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas." (134)
Groneman does not reveal any new or exciting information about Crockett after presenting his childhood until the end of the book and the Battle of the Alamo. He often recounts the same stories told in other books and uses a series of secondary sources to amass his information. What Hero of the Common Man does well at the beginning of the book by giving unique insight into the early life of David Crockett, it loses towards the middle as the story begins to become repetitive of what other scholars have already written. Where Gronemann excels is in the retelling of how Crockett traveled to Texas and made it to the Alamo. William Groneman is a world-renowned expert on the Battle of the Alamo, and he recounts the fight with Santa Anna's army in a day-by-day chronology that keeps the scenery vivid and exciting. Just as remarkable as the Battle of the Alamo is, the controversy of how Crockett died is equally impressive, and one that this book explores. The conventional theory of Crockett’s death is that he died fighting like a hero, but new evidence from one of Santa Anna's soldiers says that Crockett was captured and later shot. Groneman points out that he "referred to material previously published in his book Death of a Legend” for information regarding the alternative death narrative. (195) Hero of the Common Man does not disappoint regarding the Battle of the Alamo, which is where Groneman wanted to take the story all along.
Closing out the book Groneman looks at the legend of Davy Crockett which stayed popular and relevant for much of the nineteenth century, but as time passed so did the story. National interest was sparked once again in 1954 when Walt Disney came out with a three-part series called Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier starring Fess Parker. Groneman accurately states that "David Crockett came to national prominence at a time when the Founding Fathers were passing from the scene and the American identity was shifting from the Virginia aristocracy to the common man of the Western frontier." (189) In the mid-1950s the nation was again looking for a hero, and they found it in the form of a bear hunting, Indian fighting frontiersman.
Although much of William Goneman's book is not groundbreaking, it is still a fantastic read. It is well written, engaging, and a must-read for any Crockett enthusiast. There is some scholarly work done, especially when it comes to Crockett's early life and his death at the Alamo. Groneman is well known in the field and has done much of this research himself. David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man sets out to separate the man from the myth, and it does just that in a fun and educational way. Anyone who has read William Groneman’s other works knows the historical Davy Crockett is just as exciting as the mythical one, and the Battle of the Alamo is not the end of the Crockett story, it is just the beginning.
June 16, 2018
Everyone knows about David "Davy" Crockett, but this book really fills in a lot. He was an outdoorsman who was for the common man. I had often thought of him as a lot like Andrew Jackson whom he idolized at one point and then was at loggerheads with at another. Andrew Jackson was sort of a sophisticated outdoorsman while David Crockett was of common man outdoorsman. Crockett cared for people he felt were similar to him and would often fight for them (the settlers of west Tennessee, Creek Indians (though he had fought against them once under Jackson's command), and Texans). I found the early parts of his life interesting because I knew so little about it. I was also impressed with his oratory skill, though he was barely educated he was a masterful speaker and once memorized an opponents speech and spoke first just so his opponent wouldn't be able to use his speech (his opponent was a very good speaker). I found the description of the battle of the Alamo graphic and compelling. I wish it had been a little longer, but in reality, it was probably a very quick battle. Some of the parts I didn't care for was towards the end when he compared other historians views of Crockett and how some may have viewed him as a coward. He discusses all the different sources that have been found and while this information is important it is boring. He goes on to talk about what Crockett came to symbolize. I didn't think this was really necessary. I think people can draw their own conclusions. Overall, a worthy read that leaves most readers more knowledgeable without filling them with ennui. There are bits of the book that are dull, but those bits help to establish it's validity.
October 22, 2018
A sturdy little biography of a great American hero. It presents a sober view of a man too often shrouded in legend, neither swallowing stories whole nor seeking to debunk or tear down the great man. Primary sources are used extensively to show not only what really happened in Crockett's life, but how he and others were shaping the narrative already then. Crockett's political life is covered at some length. I especially appreciated the final chapters that traced the evolution of historical opinion about Crockett from the early hagiography to the latter day portrayal of him as a drunk and a coward.
May 15, 2023
This was nothing special. For about 3/4th of the book the author just paraphrased Crockett's autobiography. There were no new facts I didn't already know. Very little argument was made until toward the end where the author presented multiple versions of Crockett's death.
At least it was short (under 200 pages) and was easy to read.
This would only be interesting to the Crockett-uninitiated. All others, you've basically already read the gist of this without actually having read it.
At least it was short (under 200 pages) and was easy to read.
This would only be interesting to the Crockett-uninitiated. All others, you've basically already read the gist of this without actually having read it.
March 5, 2019
The editing needs some work and the story does not go very deep, especially toward the middle and end of Crockett's life, however the author does a good job of attempting to sort fact from fiction and creates a compelling story. The title of the book seems to be drawn from one aspect of the subject's political career and could have been expanded, but it was still entertaining and easy to read.
May 19, 2021
Interesting book. I'm the part I found really interesting is how much We really don't know about Davy Crockett even though he was famous during his lifetime. So many medicine stories clouding the image. The author goes over a lot of these from Disney's Davy Crockett series to all the different paintings and Davy Crockett's work. Quite an interesting book.
June 1, 2019
Nice short history of the man. What I enjoyed the most was the making of a myth and the challenge of separating facts from fiction with respect to David Crockett.
July 23, 2023
A well written, researched book on a man who is still larger than life.
December 2, 2010
This is a short succinct biography of Crockett, supplemented by a survey of how his legend has changed over time in American culture and folklore. Groneman has a deep knowledge of Crockett. This is his third book on the hero, but is the first that gives a comprehensive life history. Although a full biography, it is especially valuable for its illuminating account of Crockett's political career - of how, as a frontier congressman, unpolished, homespun, he was taken up by the leaders of the Whig Party as their answer, their version, of the western hero, Andrew Jackson, the democratic President, in the hope that he would be able to balance Old Hickory's popularity in the west. It was these eastern politicians, not Crockett, who initiated the publicity campaign that turned him, an insignificant congressman, into a national figure. They created the legends, paid the ghost writers of his books, manipulated his "image". (Though the author does not make this comparison, this is not unlike John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate in the hope that she too would attract feminine, Hillary voters.) Quite quickly, however, it became obvious that Crockett was not presidential material, was too rough, uneducated, was more comfortable in the forest hunting bears than discussing political issues. He did not have Jackson's political skills and, most significantly, was not dependably loyal to the Whig party or to any other. As a consequence, his political career ended as quickly as it began. Having enjoyed his celebrity, his fame, he was unable to adjust to obscurity, and so he went to Texas. Perhaps more valuable than the life story is the author's well-researched analysis of the Crockett legend - his successful attempt to distinguish between man and myth. In this, he has painstakingly revealed the true hero beneath the hyperbolic legend. Did so while persuasively disproving the disparaging portrait of his character painted by the anti-heroic, iconoclastic historians of the post-Vietnam era, those who seemed to take a perverse pleasure in finding fault with their own childhood TV hero, with the man responsible for their wearing a coonskin cap as kids. Crockett was far from perfect and perhaps he was fortunate in dying a hero's death at the Alamo - in a glorious death that enshrined his image in American folklore - but he really was a genuine frontiersman and his life, as Groneman, tells it, is well worth reading, remembering.
January 20, 2015
Aside from a few anecdotes and the Alamo, Crockett's real life just wasn't that interesting. Or was it that there just isn't that much source material on Crockett's life to go from? Or could it have been more interesting in another writer's hands? The book read a little like a research paper . . . . It was an interesting study on our tendency towards hero-worship and overcorrecting toward hero-trashing. "A review of the record proves these [both] to be convenient fictions that are more revealing of their authors' ideologies and the times in which they have worked than of Crockett." This book was much more academic, which might be more accurate, but not as much fun.
Every time the author actually quoted Crockett, I loved it. I think that may be the problem with the book--the legend of Davy Crockett came as much from how he told the stories as from the stories themselves. A contemporary Groneman quotes on page 104 says Crockett's stories were "commonplace and amounted to nothing in themselves, but his inimitable way of telling them would convulse one with laughter." So I think I'm not ready to give up on him until I read an autobiography and see how he tells his own story, factual or not.
Every time the author actually quoted Crockett, I loved it. I think that may be the problem with the book--the legend of Davy Crockett came as much from how he told the stories as from the stories themselves. A contemporary Groneman quotes on page 104 says Crockett's stories were "commonplace and amounted to nothing in themselves, but his inimitable way of telling them would convulse one with laughter." So I think I'm not ready to give up on him until I read an autobiography and see how he tells his own story, factual or not.
March 12, 2009
(Audio-book) After immersing myself in England for awhile, I decided to listen to a book about the American frontier. This book fit the bill. I enjoyed the style of the writer and the subject. I doubt that I would have personally liked Davy Crockett; he was a heavy drinker and an incessant roamer, leaving his family often for his own whims.
I had forgotten that he was an US Congressman. I wouldn't have liked him there either because he was ineffectual and mean-spirited. When he became angry at someone he wouldn't vote for that person's legislation even if it was good and beneficial for his constituents. But he was an interesting person to read about. He was definately an important part of frontier life at the time and was physically strong, mostly happy-go-lucky and very courageous. I think Groneman did a good job of sorting through the many things written about Davy Crockett and putting it together in an easy to read format.
I had forgotten that he was an US Congressman. I wouldn't have liked him there either because he was ineffectual and mean-spirited. When he became angry at someone he wouldn't vote for that person's legislation even if it was good and beneficial for his constituents. But he was an interesting person to read about. He was definately an important part of frontier life at the time and was physically strong, mostly happy-go-lucky and very courageous. I think Groneman did a good job of sorting through the many things written about Davy Crockett and putting it together in an easy to read format.
February 9, 2017
An excellent, measured portrait of a man--flawed and messy--that reminds us heroes are made over many years of making hard decisions.
August 1, 2008
This book was very readable and was a fascinating glimpse into parts of history we sometimes forget. Davy Crockett was amazingly self sufficient in the wilderness and in town. He didn't sit around and wait for someone else to solve problems, even when he had just moved to his new home in Texas. Everyone should read more about this chapter in Texas and American History. (I checked out the book from the library because my husband and I were going to San Antonio and we got to visit the Alamo in person. I can also recommend the History Channel documentary about the Alamo.)
December 13, 2008
This was an excellent dive back into the world of frontier biographies. As a boy, I used to read all the biographies I could get my hands on. This is an excellent round up of his life and a great foray into the oft overlooked three terms he spent in Congress. The only thing that really kept this book from its fifth star is the fact that the proofreading is so poor. There were too many places where I had to stop and figure out what was going on because of a misplaced or missing piece of punctuation.
July 7, 2010
Nice overview of the ledgenary figure's life and death in the Alamo fighting for the liberation of Texas from Mexico. Certainly of interest for U.S. history readers.
An intesting revelation to me was the period in the last century of highly derogutery publications basically calling Crocket a drunken bum which was was totally without any basis in historical fact. The real record, in fact, shows Crocket was a genuine hero, albeit rough hew and largely uneducated.
An intesting revelation to me was the period in the last century of highly derogutery publications basically calling Crocket a drunken bum which was was totally without any basis in historical fact. The real record, in fact, shows Crocket was a genuine hero, albeit rough hew and largely uneducated.
March 18, 2011
Groneman tries to establish fact from fiction about Davy Crockett. This slim volume does a good job of giving the facts and explaining how he became the legend. The unvarnished truth is not always flattering, but you come away feeling you understand who the real man really was. Sometimes a bit dry, but short enough to compensate.
Biography genre training.
Biography genre training.
March 6, 2015
I really enjoyed this biography. It has depth, a ton of research went into it, and the author's love of Crockett comes through even though he doesn't gloss over the man's faults. And Crockett had many faults. This book opened my eyes to them, making me see him as a man more than an icon, but that just makes him even more of a hero. If he could make a difference, then we can, too.
March 1, 2016
I found this no-frills biography of David Crockett informative, but the author managed to make a legendary folk hero kind of boring. I guess I prefer the myth to the truth when the real story isn't as interesting.
March 30, 2010
There were many interesting facts and it covered his life well, but who would have thought a book about Davy Crockett could be boring! So dry!
July 30, 2012
Poorly written
September 29, 2016
A good short introduction to a semi-mythical American figure.
March 26, 2023
Just when you thought you knew the whole story, the author gives more thoughts to ponder. An easy and interesting account of all things Davy Crockett. Did he really die at the Alamo?
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews