Our 1846 war with Mexico was a blatant land grab provoked by President James Polk. And while it secured the entire Southwest and California for America, it also exacerbated regional tensions over slavery, created the first significant antiwar movement in America, and helped lead the nation into civil war. A Wicked War is the definitive history of this conflict that turned America into a continental power. Amy Greenberg describes the battles between American and Mexican armies, but also delineates the political battles between Democrats and Whigs—the former led by the ruthless Polk, the latter by the charismatic Henry Clay, and a young representative from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln, who initially drew national attention as a critic of the war. Greenberg brilliantly recounts this key chapter in the creation of the United States, evoking time, place, event, and personality with equal parts authority and narrative flair.
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"A history book I picked up because of a favorable review. Covers the Mexican American war - a war I didn't know much about. I would recommend because it is both interesting and educational. It focuses mainly on American motives for starting the war. Not one of Americas finest hours." — Robert (4 out of 5 stars)
"A history book I picked up because of a favorable review. Covers the Mexican American war - a war I didn't know much about. I would recommend because it is both interesting and educational. It focuses mainly on American motives for starting the war. Not one of Americas finest hours."
“A Wicked War, with its emphasis on politics rather than military history, does for the Mexican-American war what James McPherson did for the Civil War with Battle Cry of Freedom, greatly broadening our understanding of the war. Certainly Professor Greenberg’s book will immediately become the standard account of the Mexican War, at last giving it an important place in the history of the United States. This book restores my faith in the merits of narrative history.”
“Amy S. Greenberg’s new history elegantly unfolds the story of the war through the lives of five politicians…[Greenberg] immerse[s] her readers in the early 1840s…Gripping.”
“The best account we have of the politics of Mr. Polk’s War…If one can read only a single book about the Mexican-American War, this is the one to read.”
“A condensed new study of the Mexican-American war portrays America’s terrible loss of innocence [when] waging war against an unoffending neighbor changed the tenor of American politics in the mid-nineteenth century...A well-rendered, muscular history of a war whose ramifications are still being carefully calibrated.”
“The seldom-sung Mexican War emerges as one of America’s most morally ambiguous and divisive conflicts in this illuminating history.”
“A provocative main idea in a freshly original narrative.”
" Interesting book on one of the most unpopular wars that America has fought. Along with the story of the first organized anti-war movement this is a real page turner. "
" Guess like most folks never paid much attention to this "war" but glad I took time to find out what took place. Authors research made book interesting for semi history buff. "
" Well worth reading and is relevant to our age as well. "
" Well-written history of a grim and brutal unjust war, Greenberg's analysis and attention to race, gender, class, and religion make this history vital to students of American history. "
" Eye opening book revealing some of the roots of the civil war and the US expansionism "
" I enjoyed learning facts about this largely glossed over war. In a more current context, it was the Vietnam War long before there was a Vietnam War. "
" terrific. a hidden and ignoble story of US history, with disturbing links to day's foreign policy blunders of iraq and afghanistan and the war on 'terror'... "
" Very well researched and unbiased description of politics in antebellum U.S. "
" The "Wicked War" by Amy Greenberg is a fascinating period in history. I highly recommend this book but keep an open mind, this is Amy Greenberg research and interpretation of the events/people during that time. "
Amy Greenberg is liberal arts research professor of history and women’s studies at Penn State. She is a leading scholar of Manifest Destiny and has held fellowships from the Huntington Library, the New York Historical Society, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Philosophical Society. She lives in State College, Pennsylvania.
Caroline Shaffer is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. A former company member at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for nineteen years, she received an MFA from the American Conservatory Theater.
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