Villa, Pershing, The Texas Rangers, And An American Invasion

Matthew C. Simpson at The Washington Post:

In 1913 and 1914, Mexico suffered under a cruel dictator, Victoriano Huerta, who had gained power by assassinating that nation’s democratically elected president in a U.S.-sanctioned coup. Hoping to restore representative government, four unlikely allies joined forces to defeat Huerta. They called themselves Constitutionalists. The consequences of the Constitutionalists’ victory for both Mexico and the United States are the focus of Texas historian Jeff Guinn’s “War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion.” It is a story with striking resonance today.

The Constitutionalists’ leader was Venustiano Carranza, a wealthy cattle rancher and politician from northeast Mexico. At his side was Álvaro Obregón, a successful farmer and soldier from Sonora. Although intently opposed to Huerta, Carranza and Obregón were political moderates, reserved in appearance and disposition. The same could not be said of their comrades.
more here.