War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion by Jeff Guinn

If you are completely unfamiliar with the Punitive Expeditions and US/ Mexican relations in the early 1900's this is the book for you. Fantastically written, and well researched, you are going to be engulfed in this story about political infighting, rough and tumble fighters, and struggles to eek out a life on both sides of the border. Most history buffs might know a little about the Punitive Expeditions against famed bandit/revolutionary Pancho Villa, but many folks have not read the whole story. Guinn dishes out a heaping helping of the whole story that is both entertaining and enlightening. 

If, however, you are a decent student of history, or have read anything about the Punitive Expeditions, I would skip this one. Having read a few books back in grad school about the subject, I didn't really learn anything I did not already have a passing memory of. Most of the information has been covered in other books and what little that is new, seemed scattered in the book like Villistas in the mountains. And where are the Texas Rangers in the story? They make an appearance in the title but show little in the book. While I did not count the number of pages, it amounted to maybe a chapter and a half of the total composition. Their side of the story was what brought me to the book in the first place. Anyone with a working knowledge of the Punitive Expeditions will not glean all that much from working their way through the 300 or so pages.  

I would recommend this for anyone looking for to discovery new fields of history. Guinn is a fantastic author, and he tells the story well and gives great overview of the events surrounding the United State's first attempt in foreign relations in the modern world. However, it lacks real meat about the several of the title characters and any new perspective for anyone who has read anything about the subject (which to be fair is probably not that many folks to start with).