WAR on the BORDER: VILLA, PERSHING, the TEXAS RANGERS, and an AMERICAN INVASION (audiobook) by Jeff Guinn
Published in 2021 by Simon and Schuster Audio.
Read by Timothy Andres Pabon.
Duration: 10 hours, 10 minutes.
Unabridged.
Synopsis:
The famous expedition into Mexico led by "Black Jack" Pershing to punish Pancho Villa in 1916 and 1917 is the stated topic of this book. However, this book is much more than that. It is a look at the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and World War I (1914-1918) and America's rather aggressive foreign policy in Latin America.
Within most Americans' living memory the United States had taken on the responsibilities of empire by defeating Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898. The United States took the Philippines, Guam, Cuba and Puerto Rico and immediately got involved in a fight against Filipino insurgents and independence movements that lasted more than a decade. The concept of foreign intervention was not a new one and the impulse to intervene remained strong.
With war in Europe looming, the Mexican Revolution made America nervous. An unstable Mexico looked like an invitation for European intervention. America directly intervened multiple times, including the well-known punitive mission led by Pershing to capture or kill Pancho Villa.
Villa led one of the many revolutionary armies that was trying to change the government in Mexico. Sometimes they worked together, sometimes they fought each other as much as they fought the government. Villa was on the decline, having been beaten multiple times and reneging on several promises to him men.
But, Villa understood "media" as it was then. He had been the subject of a Hollywood movie, including actual footage of his men "in action". He got his name and his image in the newspapers regularly - always with the same exciting look - a big sombrero, a big mustache and bandoleers full of ammunition.
Villa decided to shake things up. He needed money, he needed attention, financial support and volunteers to join him and an attack on the United States itself might just do it. He attacked Columbus, New Mexico. He needed the loot but more importantly, he needed to look like he had no fear of Mexico's neighbor. He also figured (correctly) that America would intervene and the Mexican people would reflexively come to his aid with money and volunteers (not really).
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My review:
This book is a big sprawling book and it is mis-titled in my opinion. The actual punitive mission by Pershing mentioned in the title takes up maybe 1/3 of the book. It's not that the other information wasn't relative, there was just so much of it and I did not think it was not organized particularly well. It's like the author just kept collecting tons of relevant information and somehow couldn't cull it down to the original theme of the book - Pershing vs. Villa and couldn't organize it in a compelling way.
Some critics have gone after the author for pointing out that the border situation simply seethed in racial tension and the Texas Rangers were far from the noble heroes you see in Chuck Norris' TV show Walker: Texas Ranger. I literally have no issue with the facts that he presented. I have an issue with the presentation of the facts.
I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: WAR on the BORDER: VILLA, PERSHING, the TEXAS RANGERS, and an AMERICAN INVASION by Jeff Guinn.
Read by Timothy Andres Pabon.
Duration: 10 hours, 10 minutes.
Unabridged.
Synopsis:
The famous expedition into Mexico led by "Black Jack" Pershing to punish Pancho Villa in 1916 and 1917 is the stated topic of this book. However, this book is much more than that. It is a look at the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and World War I (1914-1918) and America's rather aggressive foreign policy in Latin America.
Within most Americans' living memory the United States had taken on the responsibilities of empire by defeating Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898. The United States took the Philippines, Guam, Cuba and Puerto Rico and immediately got involved in a fight against Filipino insurgents and independence movements that lasted more than a decade. The concept of foreign intervention was not a new one and the impulse to intervene remained strong.
With war in Europe looming, the Mexican Revolution made America nervous. An unstable Mexico looked like an invitation for European intervention. America directly intervened multiple times, including the well-known punitive mission led by Pershing to capture or kill Pancho Villa.
Villa led one of the many revolutionary armies that was trying to change the government in Mexico. Sometimes they worked together, sometimes they fought each other as much as they fought the government. Villa was on the decline, having been beaten multiple times and reneging on several promises to him men.
Villa decided to shake things up. He needed money, he needed attention, financial support and volunteers to join him and an attack on the United States itself might just do it. He attacked Columbus, New Mexico. He needed the loot but more importantly, he needed to look like he had no fear of Mexico's neighbor. He also figured (correctly) that America would intervene and the Mexican people would reflexively come to his aid with money and volunteers (not really).
*******
My review:
This book is a big sprawling book and it is mis-titled in my opinion. The actual punitive mission by Pershing mentioned in the title takes up maybe 1/3 of the book. It's not that the other information wasn't relative, there was just so much of it and I did not think it was not organized particularly well. It's like the author just kept collecting tons of relevant information and somehow couldn't cull it down to the original theme of the book - Pershing vs. Villa and couldn't organize it in a compelling way.
Some critics have gone after the author for pointing out that the border situation simply seethed in racial tension and the Texas Rangers were far from the noble heroes you see in Chuck Norris' TV show Walker: Texas Ranger. I literally have no issue with the facts that he presented. I have an issue with the presentation of the facts.
I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: WAR on the BORDER: VILLA, PERSHING, the TEXAS RANGERS, and an AMERICAN INVASION by Jeff Guinn.
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