War of a Thousand Deserts

Brian DeLay is assistant professor of history, University of California, Berkeley.

"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"War of a Thousand Deserts makes a solid contribution to diplomatic, borderlands, and indigenous history."—James N. Leiker, American Studies Vol.49 3/4Received an honorable mention from the Texas State Historical AssociationReceived Honorable Mention for the 2008 PROSE Award in the U.S. History and Biography/Autobiography category, sponsored by the Association of American PublishersWinner of the 2008 Summerfield G. Roberts Award, presented by the Sons of the Republic of TexasFinalist for the 2008 Francis Parkman Prize sponsored by the Society of American HistoryWinner of the 2009 Robert M. Utley Award given by the Western History Association"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"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"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"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"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