The War with Mexico, Volume 2 (of 2)

This volume chronicles the decisive military campaigns and political maneuvering that brought the Mexican-American War to its dramatic conclusion. As American forces under General Winfield Scott advance from Vera Cruz toward Mexico City, the narrative reveals a nation tearing itself apart: President Santa Anna faces relentless opposition from rivals like Farías, while revolutionary factions exploit the chaos of foreign invasion. Smith documents every major engagement with tactical precision, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, the bloody assault on Molino del Rey, and the final storming of Chapultepec, while simultaneously exposing the diplomatic failures and political calculations that shaped the war's outcome. The Americans march as conquerors through Puebla, negotiate under duress, and ultimately dictate terms of peace from a position of overwhelming military superiority. Yet Smith does not let his American readers off easily: he examines the war's staggering finances, its brutal consequences for both peoples, and its divisive reception in U.S. politics. This is history written with the granularity of a participant and the critical distance of a scholar, rendering the conflict far more complex than any simple tale of Manifest Destiny.