Linda Hall and Don M. Coerver set the stage for their study by explaining the volatility and uniqueness of border regions. Indeed, some of the more important chapters in the history of U.S.-Mexican relations concern the conflict between the two cultures along this long, relatively unguarded, frontier. In this book, the authors examine “these social and economic effects within the political and military context of the frontier region” (p. 3).
Hall and Coerver devote several chapters to the impact of the Mexican Revolution on the border area and the conflicts which ensued. The punitive expedition of 1916 is covered in some detail, but the authors say little about the negotiations at New London or the background of the U.S. decision to terminate the expedition. Other chapters deal with the mining industry, migration, and trade. These are based on extensive archival research in the United States and Mexico. The material dealing with public officials in the border states is especially useful, although the authors did not use the papers of Albert B. Fall, Franklin K. Lane, or James R. Garfield, which would have added additional dimensions to their account.
As long as the authors stick to their main title, Revolution on the Border, their work is sound and fairly complete. But at times they seem to want to write a much broader account of U.S.-Mexican relations between 1910 and 1920. Thus, there is an unsatisfactory and incomplete chapter on the oil question, even though the oil fields are some distance from the border. The rationale for this seems to be that people from the border states were involved in the oil industry. This was true, but the oil issue was much broader than a border conflict, and any analysis should do more than barely mention the Article 27 debate and the basic issue of ownership of subsurface deposits.
The authors’ conclusions regarding the impact of border conflicts on the future of U.S.-Mexican relations are informative. One can hardly dispute their final sentence: “As long as the United States remains economically powerful and Mexico economically vulnerable, their location side by side along thousands of miles of border will continue to foster problems strikingly similar to those faced by the two countries during the era from 1910 to 1920” (p. 162).
