War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion Hardcover – May 18, 2021

This book explains the Mexican Revolution in the north, explains the many political maneuverings on both sides of the border, and the US involvement. The narrative is easy to read and takes up only ⅔ of the book. The comprehensive endnotes and the bibliography make up the remaining ⅓ of the book. It’s a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the troubled US-México border.

This book is as much about the political caos in Mexico at the time as it is about Villa, Pershing and the Texas Rangers. I enjoyed the history lesson though and thought the author did a good job of balancing a story with such a large cast of characters. A very good read.

Well researched and easily readable, this is a comprehensive account of a part of American history that has largely been ignored. It also sheds light on how we got to be where we are today in our relationship with Mexico.

Has Guinn provided us with an excellent primer for the Mexican Revolution 1910-1920, or a History of the US Punitive Expedition? The answer is “yes” to both, and “no” to both.While being a decent overview of the Mexican Revolution and its players (Diaz, Obregon, Villa, Zapata, Carranza, Huerta, & Madero) it is not a concise overview as the motives and driving forces behind the gentlemen listed above are not deeply delved into. Also, the players come into focus when they involve the US, and out of focus when they do not. For Example, Zapata is mentioned during the overthrow of President Diaz but for the remainder of his life he was largely involved in events south of Mexico City, so he fades from Guinn’s narrative.Also, while the politics and actions of the 1916 US Punitive Expedition are a little more deeply delved into, this book is not what I would call a detailed “military history” of the expedition, but concentrates more on the reasons for it coming into being (Villas’ raid on Columbus NM), the routes the force took, and a description of the skirmishes it participated in.I would argue the true “star” of this book is the Border itself and its complex history of wars, raids, cattle rustlers, Texas Rangers, plots, revolutions, and international intrigues (to include German involvement in keeping the US and Mexico at odds with one another).Guinn sheds some light on the Texas Rangers of the time period, and they come off as little more than Death Squads. Additionally, Guinn drives home that the US Cavalry was still very much extant and deeply involved in combating banditry, border raids, and generally policing the border at this time. Unlike the Rangers, their reputation is not tarnished by this book; in fact the exploits of one Major Frank Tompkins the day of the Columbus Raid will leave quite the impression on you.In the end Guinn has wet my appetite for the entire turn of the century history of the Southwest. It is compelling reading and has made me run off and order Colonel Tompkins’ book on the Punitive Expedition, as this book has left me desiring to learn more on the subject – truly the mark of a successful history book.Pros: Good overview of the US-Mexico Border in the early 20th century – both the players and the politics. Good maps of the region. Engaging writing style by the author.Cons: Only a high level overview of the Mexican Revolution, and an “intermediate” level overview of the US Punitive Expedition.

I loved “The Last Gunfight” by this author so I purchased this without hesitation. Overall it was very interesting and informative. The thing that bothered me is that as I read it seemed that the author spent an extraordinary amount of effort and words describing each example of American brutality or racism towards Mexican. To be sure, the same activity by Mexican people is mentioned but usually not dissected in detail. Who murdered more Mexican people in that era in cold blood, Pancho Villa or Americans? Villa was a murderous thieving thug who wrapped himself in the mantra of fighting for the little guy. The same little guys he robbed, looted, killed, and drafted into his roving band of criminals. History has seen his kind before and will again. The real head scratcher in the afterward was a somewhat snide remark about Trump and the dangerous American militias on our side of the border. Unmentioned are the cartel drug traffickers who contribute to the death of thousands of Americans every year and the for profit human trafficking that victimizes uncounted thousands of others.

Mr Guinn has authored an interesting, informative, and entertaining book about events that currently serve as the basis for discrimination and bad feeling between peoples of the United States and Mexico. It has made it easier for me to understand how such a depth of bad feeling and fear towards Hispanics can exist amongst those remaining of my parents’ generation, many of whom were children during or shortly after events described by Mr Guinn. I very much like the book. It has an easy, informative reading style. My only criticism is that sources are provided as end notes rather than as footnotes, which can make serious study difficult and tedious. Would also have preferred a book with more maps and photographs, but despite these quibbles, the book is excellent and very much worth a read. Thank you, Mr Guinn.

Few Americans know the history of Mexico, even when the Mexico’s history is entangled in our history. Jeff Guinn’s War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion is a helpful way to alleviate our abysmal ignorance of US meddling in Mexico.Here Guinn documents our intricate, and nearly always illegal, manipulations of Mexico’s internal affairs, in this case in the Mexico Civil War in the early years of the twentieth century. Reading this book one can’t help but see in Perishing’s Punitive Expedition more recent invasions of other countries to pursue America’s enemies. We never did get Poncho Villa, by the way. Catching a fugitive in his own country, or a friendly country, or in this case an indifferent country, was as difficult in 1916 as it is in 2022.

Librazo, donde pareciera que el tema solo atañe a la frontera (que es el tema principal) pareciera más una novela de espías que se desenvuelve en estos dos países, aqui se tocan temas sobre la invasión y toma de Veracruz por la armada gringa en 1914, el ataque a columbus y la subsecuente expedición punitiva, los cruces de elementos armados de aquí pa'lla y de allá pa acá, servicios de inteligencia alemán y diplomacia japonesa, la neta un muy buen trabajo de investigación y narrado de forma dinámica que te lo avientas en dos días, ahora bien, me extraño que no mencionara a Poinsett en el capitulo de relaciones entre las jóvenes naciones pero esa es mi mera observación, el autor es estadounidense y usa conceptos que son comúnes para el y sus compatriotas, por tanto si causa algún exrañamiento en la mente del lector nomás basta por cambiar "america" por estados unidos/us, excelente aporte a un tema que tanto allá como acá no se le ha dado la importancia debida, lo celebro.