San Antonio"s unique appeal is the pervasive ambience of a colorful, authentic past. Here real heroes lived and died. Here immigrants of all stripes labored to build a city--the nation"s ninth-largest--that on one hand stands tall and gleaming, yet on the other seems little changed from the 1920s, or from Victorian times, or from the reign of Spanish kings. San Antonio: Outpost of Empires is a vivid, honest portrait in words and pictures of San Antonio"s evolution over the course of nearly three centuries, from the days of the colonists of New Spain to the defense of the Alamo to the inrush of a "jumble of races" to the rapid growth of the modern era. Here the faces of persons like Davy Crockett, Robert E. Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, Geronimo and Queen Elizabeth II mingle with those of Spanish missionaries, female aviators, traildrivers, chili vendors, firemen and birdsellers as San Antonio: Outpost of Empires documents a remarkable city"s march through time. The text is enhanced by 140 dramatically-displayed illustrations.