William Walker. The Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny. Book 3: Nicaragua, Alejandro Bolaños Geyer

Title: William Walker. The Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny. Book 3: Nicaragua, Alejandro Bolaños Geyer
Author: Alejandro Bolaños Geyer
Place of publication: Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Editor: Privately printed
Year: 1990
Pages: 464
Description:
William Walker (1824-1860) the “Gray-Eye Man of Destiny,” was the hottest news personality between the Mexican War and the Civil War-for a time the most talked of figure in the United States. Yet today probably not one U.S. citizen in ten thousand has ever heard of William Walker, a lost character in American history. But although forgotten even in his home state of Tennessee, Walker is still vividly remembered in Central America as a devil with horns and a tail. Elementary school books proudly acclaim the national War of 1856-57, when the ruthless imperialistic invader William Walker and his Yankee mercenaries were driven out of Nicaragua by the freedom fighters of the five Central American republics. William Walker was a “quiet, modest student” before he was suddenly transformed in 1849 into the “bold, daring, dauntless revolutionist and warrior”. The great change in his character, which occurred on the death of his fiancée, has never been explained satisfactorily. His many shifts in occupation from doctor to lawyer to journalist and to soldier of fortune have never been explained either. Walker remains much a mystery today as he was to his contemporaries, even to his closest friends. These pages record the process of unraveling the mystery of the “Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny,” unlocking the hidden springs of Walker´s mind; and they bring into sharp focus the stormy scenes during the early stages of U.S. imperialism climaxing in the Mexican War, his forays into Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras, until his death by firing squad at Truxillo in 1860, are the subjects of these five books: Book Three, Nicaragua, opens with a review of Nicaraguan history, placing in context the diverse factors that interplayed with Walker upon his arrival at Realejo in June, 1855. It then follows him until May, 1856, when he was ready to take over as president of the country.