“Action-packed and densely argued.”—Larry McMurtry, New York Review of Books
(Larry McMurtry
New York Review of Books 20100101)
“Brian DeLay is one of the most articulate and original authors writing in the Western Americana field today.”—Howard R. Lamar, author of The New Encyclopedia of the American West
(Howard R. Lamar )
“With a good sense of drama and narrative, DeLay tells the story of how the interactions and preconceptions of Mexicans, Americans, and independent Indian tribes shaped the borderland region in ways none of the parties expected. This book will force many readers to rethink their basic assumptions about Indians as nineteenth-century political actors. This is not just the most significant work on the U.S.-Mexico War to appear in a generation, but a study with wide-ranging implications for the history of North America. Brian DeLay shows how enlightening transnational history can be when done well.”—Amy S. Greenberg, The Pennsylvania State University
(Amy S. Greenberg )
“In supple prose, DeLay analyzes the interactions in the years leading up to the war among three ‘nations’—the struggling new Mexican republic, the confident and opportunistic (but also relatively new) U.S., and the older, highly dynamic peoples of indigenous America—as well as among the compellingly depicted individuals and groups that composed them.”—Margaret Chowning, University of California at Berkeley
(Margaret Chowning )
"DeLay''s War of a Thousand Deserts begins with a long-neglected question: what role did Indian Nations of the Southern Plains—Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches—play in the era of the U.S.-Mexican War? His answers sweep across the borderlands in stories of violence, trauma, and the devastating cultural effects of endemic warfare on indigenous and Mexican peoples alike. A tireless researcher and gifted writer has given us a necessary, if profoundly disturbing, look at the history of our American West."—James F. Brooks, author of Captives & Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands
(James F. Brooks )
“Brian DeLay’s compelling and well-documented narrative of a little-known subject—Indian raids into northern Mexico—offers new insights on the impact of those attacks on the affected countries and peoples.”—Pedro Santoni, author of Mexicans at Arms: Puro Federalists and the Politics of War, 1845-1848
(Pedro Santoni )
Winner of a 2009 Southwest Book Award sponsored by the Border Regional Library Association
(Southwest Book Awards
Border Regional Library Association )
Recipient of 2010 Bryce Wood Book Award, given by the Latin American Studies Association.
(2010 Bryce Wood Book Award
Latin American Studies Association )
"An engaging book that enlivens the debate over the clash between Indians, Mexicans, and Americans in the Southwest. Both Indian and western historians, as well as those who still call themselves borderlands specialists, will want to read DeLay''s work."--Gary Clayton Anderson, Western Historical Quarterly
(Gary Clayton Anderson
Western Historical Quarterly )
"A truly outstanding work of transnational history. It should be required reading for graduate students in American Indian, Latin American, U.S., and global and comparative history."—Matthew Babcock, Journal of World History
(Matthew Babcock
Journal of World History )
"This prize-winning study explores the part indigenous societies played in directing their own fate, and in doing so provides important insight on the agency these peoples possessed."--Joseph F. Stoltz III, Journal of the Early Republic
(Joseph F. Stoltz III
Journal of the Early Republic )
"[An] outstanding book. . . . A highly readable, jargon-free, interpretive study. . . . The work is a rare combination of wit, intelligence, and a dash of cynicism that produces a sparkling narrative full of juicy anecdotes and profound conclusions. The War of a Thousand Deserts provides many jewels of wisdom for those fortunate enough to read it. . . . The War of a Thousand Deserts is a brilliant study and a magnificent contribution to the historiography of the U.S.-Mexico War and the Southwest."—Douglas W. Richmond, New Mexico Historical Review
(Douglas W. Richmond
New Mexico Historical Review )
