Winner of the Bolton-Johnson Prize Winner of the Utley Prize Winner of the Distinguished Book Award, Society for Military History “ The Dead March incorporates the work of Mexican historians…in a story that involves far more than military strategy, diplomatic maneuvering, and American political intrigue…Studded with arresting insights and convincing observations.” ―James Oakes, New York Review of Books “Superb…A remarkable achievement, by far the best general account of the war now available. It is critical, insightful, and rooted in a wealth of archival sources; it brings far more of the Mexican experience than any other work…and it clearly demonstrates the social and cultural dynamics that shaped Mexican and American politics and military force.” ― Journal of American History It has long been held that the United States emerged victorious from the Mexican–American War because its democratic system was more stable and its citizens more loyal. But this award-winning history shows that Americans dramatically underestimated the strength of Mexican patriotism and failed to see how bitterly Mexicans resented their claims to national and racial superiority. Their fierce resistance surprised US leaders, who had expected a quick victory with few casualties. By focusing on how ordinary soldiers and civilians in both countries understood and experienced the conflict, The Dead March offers a clearer picture of the brief, bloody war that redrew the map of North America. “Like so much of the best recent scholarship, The Dead March incorporates the work of Mexican historians and anthropologists in a story that involves far more than military strategy, diplomatic maneuvering, and American political intrigue. At its core, The Dead March is a social and cultural history of the Mexican and American armies and the societies that produced them, particularly their assumptions about race, masculinity, and religion…A book studded with arresting insights and convincing observations.” ― James Oakes , New York Review of Books “Guardino’s narratives of military engagements are captivating…His close attention to the human tragedy of the ‘dead march’ offers a model of how students of military history might investigate such conflicts in the future.” ― Jocelyn Olcott , American Historical Review “Superb… The Dead March is a remarkable achievement, by far the best general account of the war now available. It is critical, insightful, and rooted in a wealth of archival sources; it brings far more of the Mexican experience than any other work not specifically focused on Mexico; and it clearly demonstrates the social and cultural dynamics that shaped Mexican and American politics and military force.” ― Samuel J. Watson , Journal of American History “A superb account of events leading up to the war on both sides and to the war itself.” ― Barbara A. Tenenbaum , The Americas “ The Dead March builds a wonderful, sustained case for the deep similarities between the two countries, their struggles, and the circumstances of their fighting men. The material on both armies is superb. We are given marvelously lucid, textured, and probing explanations for why and how men came to serve in these armies; how they were viewed by their countrymen and women; what they experienced on march and in camp. The narrative of particular battles and confrontations is engrossing and illuminating. And the military history is surrounded by smart, compelling, analytic sections on a host of important topics. This book sets the new standard for histories of the war that cost Mexico half its national territory.” ― Brian DeLay, author of War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.–Mexican War “Guardino breaks new ground and offers novel information about the day-to-day reality of the war. By featuring the lived experience of the soldiers and ordinary people who took part in the conflagration, Guardino gives us a more realistic view of Mexico and the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century, correcting widely held but ultimately unwarranted assumptions about vast political and military discrepancies between the two nations. In short, this book constitutes the most insightful and balanced treatment of the war that I know of.” ― Andrés Reséndez, author of The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America “The history of a war of expansion and empire that reverberates today in talk of border walls and deportation. Viewed through a retrospective lens, the American invasion of Mexico in 1846, an act of single-sided aggression, has eerie parallels with later incursions in Vietnam and Iraq. For one thing, all were adventures that enjoyed public support at first but that lost backing as time wore on. It was also precipitated, writes Guardino in this vigorous, readable account, by an American president who ‘had to hide crucial information and engage in intense partisan maneuvering to start the war.’…In a nar