The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994 Page: 152

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

reminiscences of "Big Foot" Wallace, which concentrate on his experiences on
the Mier Expedition.
Roy L. Swift's exhaustive research unearthed both private and public sources
to document 150 years of five generations of an aristocratic family of lawyers,
politicians, and judges in Florida, Kentucky, Mexico, and Texas, especially in
Austin and San Antonio. Of this family, spelled "DuVal" by the author, the best
known is John C. Duval, survivor of the Goliad Massacre and "Texas's First Man
of Letters," according to J. Frank Dobie. Others include a governor of Florida,
two U.S. judges, a delegate to the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875, and
DuVal West, President Wilson's personal agent to Mexico during the Mexican
Revolution.
This volume provides much detail about the DuVals and Wests in the Mexican
War, Civil War, Reconstruction, and later years. Swift offers some insight into J.
C. Duval's Early Times in Texas (1892), contemporary accounts of common life in
nineteenth-century Texas, and interesting information on West's activities with
Emiliano Zapata and others in Mexico. Swift's work suffers, however, from a lack
of cohesiveness and centralizing purpose. It might best be understood as a series
of vignettes about various family members. In addition, the average student of
Texas is likely to view many of the 478 pages as laborious reading, sprinkled as
they are with pages-long quotations, unnecessary detail, and unimportant facts.
Sharply contrasting these two works is Bill and Marjorie K. Walraven's The
Magnificent Barbarians. The authors principally utilize standard sources in ex-
panding original newspaper stories, grouped into chapters focusing on the colo-
nial period, early days of the Texas Revolution, and the battles of the Alamo and
San Jacinto. One chapter, entitled "Paladins," includes individual accounts of
several unique Texans. Most of the stories are standard fare, told in an engaging
and entertaining style. Others present accounts of little-known events and char-
acters. In some cases penetrating analysis suggests answers to intriguing ques-
tions. The book's dust jacket describes one noteworthy section and a
fourteen-page appendix as "the first concrete evidence that U.S. troops-some
deserters, some discharged, and some on 'temporary furlough'-played a major
role in the Battle of San Jacinto and other battles." A good bibliography provides
some direction for discerning sources of information and quotations, none of
which are cited in the text.
Bastrop KENNETH KESSELUS
Neu-Deutschland in Nordamerika: Massenauswanderung, nationale Gruppenansiedlun-
gen und liberale Kolonialbewegung, 1815-186o. By Stefan von Senger und Et-
terlin. (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1991. Pp. v+467.
Acknowledgments, introduction, notes, bibliography, index. DM78.oo, pa-
per.)
This book is a doctoral dissertation submitted by the author in 1990 at the
Free University of Berlin. As a student of German history, American studies, and
political science, he is eminently qualified to have conducted a study of the polit-

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