Fire & Blood: A History of Mexico, Paperback

Fire & Blood brilliantly depicts the succession of tribes and societies that have variously called Mexico their home, their battleground, and their legacy. This is the tale of the indigenous people who forged from this rugged terrain a wide-ranging civilization; of the Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec dynasties, which exercised their sophisticated powers through bureaucracy and religion; of the Spanish conquistadors, whose arrival heralded death, disease, and a new vision of continental domination. Author T. R. Fehrenbach connects these threads with the story of modern-day, independent Mexico, a proud nation struggling to balance its traditions against opportunities that often seem tantalizingly out of reach.

From the Mesoamerican empires to the Spanish Conquest and the Mexican Revolution, peopled by the legendary personalities of Mexican history--Montezuma, Cortés, Santa Anna, Juárez, Maximilian, Díaz, Pancho Villa, and Zapata--Fire & Blood is a "deftly organized and well-researched" work of popular history (Library Journal).

About author(s):T. R. Fehrenbach served with the US Infantry and Engineers as platoon sergeant with an engineer battalion during World War II. He continued his military career in the Korean War, rising from platoon leader to company commander and then to battalion staff officer of the 72nd Tank battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Prior to his military involvement, a young Fehrenbach, born in San Benito, Texas, worked as a farmer and the owner of an insurance company. In retirement, he wrote a political column for a San Antonio newspaper. He sold numerous pieces to publications such as the Saturday Evening Post and Argosy. He is the author of several books, including U.S. Marines in Action, The Battle of Anzio, This Kind of War, andhis most enduring work, Lone Star, a one-volume history of Texas.