The Freebooters

'The Freebooters' is an intriguing novel on Texas Revolution (1835-1836) by GustaveAimard. The Texas Revolution was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) in putting up armed resistance to the centralist government of Mexico. Excerpt: 'All the wood rangers have noticed, with reference to the immense virgin forests which still cover a considerable extent of the soil of the New World, that, to the man who attempts to penetrate into one of these mysterious retreats which the hand of man has not yet deformed, and which preserve intact the sublime stamp which Deity has imprinted on them, the first steps offer almost insurmountable difficulties, which are gradually smoothed down more and more, and after a little while almost entirely disappear. It is as if Nature had desired to defend by a belt of thorns and spikes the mysterious shades of these aged forests, in which her most secret arcane are carried out.'

Gustave Aimard (1818-1883) was the author of numerous books about Latin America and the American frontier. He was born in Paris. He was the main 19th century French practitioner of the western novel. In 1870 he fought in the siege of Paris during the Franco-German war. Among the most popular of his 43books, many were translated into English.