The Diezmo

The Diezmo tells the incredible story of the Mier Expedition, one of the most absurd and tragic military adventures in the history of Texas -- a country and a state, as Rick Bass writes, that was born in blood. In the early days of the Republic of Texas, two young men, wild for glory, impulsively volunteer for an expedition Sam Houston has ordered to patrol the Mexican border. But their dreams of triumph soon fade into prayers for survival, and all that is on their minds is getting home and having a cool drink of water. After being captured in a raid on the Mexican village of Mier, escaping, and being recaptured, the men of the expedition are punished with the terrible diezmo, in which one man in ten is randomly chosen to die. The survivors end up in the most dreaded prison in Mexico. There they become pawns in an international chess game to decide the fate of Texas, and with their hopes of release all but extinguished, they make one desperate, last-ditch effort to escape.

A great crossover book with appeal for high school students. It will also interest readers of westerns and historical fiction.

Author: Rick Bass
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Published: 06/01/2006
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 8.12h x 6.20w x 0.56d
ISBN: 9780618710508

Review Citation(s):
Kliatt 03/01/2007 pg. 21

About the Author
Bass, Rick: -

RICK BASS's fiction has received O. Henry Awards, numerous Pushcart Prizes, awards from the Texas Institute of Letters, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and his memoir, Why I Came West, was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.