Lt. Gov Dan Patrick (R) said the University of Texas agreed to host a panel with the authors of the book "Forget The Alamo" and history experts to discuss the book.
On July 2, the book made headlines when Patrick canceled an event at the Texas State History Museum where the authors of "Forget The Alamo" were scheduled to make a presentation on the book, which challenges common misconceptions surrounding the 1836 conflict and examines the true motivations of the Alamo's defenders.
Patrick and other critics of the book say "Forget The Alamo" is not based in fact and claimed "virtually no respected Texas historian agreed" with one of the book's theses that the defenders of the Alamo were fighting for slavery in Texas.
"We must make certain that the information being put forward at state-sponsored events is well-researched and based in fact," Patrick said. "That is not the case with Forget the Alamo, which has been debunked by a number of professional historians who point to the book's shoddy research and selective use of facts."
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But the book authors argue that many top historians did endorse the book and that slavery did play a role in the motivation behind the defenders of the Alamo.
"Slavery was the undeniable linchpin of all of this," author Bryan Burrough said in an interview with National Public Radio. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long."
Patrick said he asked the University of Texas to host a panel with "Forget The Alamo" authors and history experts to "explore the scholarship of this book, debate the facts and get to the truth" in a press release Thursday.
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The state lieutenant governor said the university agreed to the event.
The book was authored by Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford, along with Burrough.
"We look forward to hearing what the University of Texas has in mind," Tomlinson said in a statement to NBC Austin affiliate KVUE. "The state's top historians have already endorsed our book with reviews in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. We interviewed others for the book itself. We are confident in our facts and regret the lieutenant governor has failed to keep up with the latest academic research."
