The author, Douglas Meed, did a great job of summarizing the Mexican War. This book is well written, logically organized, and easy to read. Although it lacks detail, it does provide a high level overview of the conflict. This book also contains historical information on world events of that period. Although this information is interesting, it is also irrelevant. Thus, it is wasted space.
The book contains several battle maps, which clearly show the movements of the various forces. The maps are in color, easy to understand, and uncluttered with extraneous detail. The author also included numerous color and black & white illustrations. These illustrations are detailed and make a worthwhile contribution to the book. There are also photos and drawings of several politicians and military officers.
The book has a logical flow and each campaign is described in chronological order. In addition, the author spends time describing organizations such as the Texas Rangers and the San Patricios. The San Patricios were a group of Irish immigrants who defected to the Mexican side. Finally, the author included information on several Civil War officers, such as Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.
The main shortcoming of this book is that its battle coverage is weak. The storming of Chapultepec Castle by the U.S. Marines should have received significant coverage. Instead, the entire battle of Mexico City, which included Chapultepec Castle, is covered in only the briefest of detail. This vague coverage was unnecessary given that the author wasted space on irrelevant topics. The chapter on "Portrait of a Civilian" covers a woman who really had nothing to do with the war. When describing the world during this period, the author talks about the industrial revolution, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx. This space would have been better spent on some of the major battles.
Bottom line: this is an easy to read summary of the Mexican War. The maps are clear and the illustrations add to the book. Although the book lacks meaningful detail on the battles, it does contain interesting historical information of the time. If nothing else, this book will certainly provide the reader with a basic understanding of the war.
ISBN-13: 978-0415968409
ISBN-10: 0415968402
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