On the Border: Society and Culture between the United States and Mexico

A stunningly beautiful backdrop where cultures meet and meld, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands is one of the most dynamic regions in the Americas. On the Border is an eclectic collection of essays about this fascinating area of the world and its rich history. Editor Andrew Grant Wood based this new book on a special edition of the Journal of the Southwest that he guest edited. All of the essays were written especially for that project and for the book. Wood has added an expanded introduction to provide context for the essays. Beginning with a treatment on mining and the rise of Tijuana in Baja California, the essays in On the Border examine a number of aspects of the region’s social and cultural history, including; urban growth and housing, the mysterious underworld of border-town nightlife, a film noir treatment of the Peteet family suicides, borderlands cuisine, the life of squatters, and popular religion. Editor Drew Wood has also included reviews of The Mexican and Traffic, and a survey of a film genre often dismissed; the narco-ficheras.