AWARD-WINNING BOOK REVEALS TEXAS' FORGOTTEN FIRST REVOLUTION

"The Lost War for Texas" tells story of conflict 25 years before the Alamo, when Anglos and Tejanos stood together against the Spanish Empire

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new book by historian and author James Aalan Bernsen will reshape how Texans view their state's proud and colorful history by bringing a long-forgotten conflict out of the darkness, demonstrating the depth and complexity of the Lone Star State's origins.

"The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites and the Texas Revolution of 1811" is the story of the ill-fated Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition, in which Anglo Americans joined Mexican Texans in attempt to free Texas from Spanish tyranny and aid the Mexican Revolution. Full of surprising new revelations from five years of extensive research, it will reshape how Texans think of their history. Among many surprising findings, the book uncovered the role of the followers of Aaron Burr (known as Burrites) in launching a revolution in Texas.

"This forgotten chapter of the Texas revolutionary struggle is crucial for understanding Texas history, because what happens from 1811-13 sets up everything that follows, from the settlement of Texas onward," Bernsen said. "I like to call it the World War I of Texas, because just like you couldn't have World War II without its predecessor, this war directly sets the conditions for 1836."

Historian Jesús F. de la Teja calls the book "a tour-de-force reinterpretation of a long neglected but seminal period in Texas history." Historian David Narret writes, "Bernsen has a gift for telling dramatic stories of individual lives," adding the work is "an eye-opening book that should appeal to both general readers and historians."

The Lost War for Texas has also earned many awards, including the Texas Institute of Letters' Carr P. Collins award for the top Texas non-fiction book. "The committee was most impressed with James Aalan Bernsen's extensive research, as well as the engaging drama he presents in narrating one of the truly epic events in Texas history," a statement from the organization said. "The scholarship of The Lost War for Texas was absolutely superb."

The book has also received the Texas State Historical Association's Kate Broocks Bates Award for Historical Research and the Presidio La Bahía Award from the Sons of the Republic of Texas. The book is published by Texas A&M University Press.

Author James Aalan Bernsen is a US Navy veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, who also has a long career as a reporter, researcher and public relations consultant. He has been published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, East Texas Historical Journal, Handbook of Texas and other publications.

Bernsen will be a featured speaker at the Texas Book Festival, November 7-8, 2025 in Austin.

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SOURCE James Aalan Bernsen