Rachel St. John. Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border.

Abstract

As Rachel St. John indicates at the start, this book's main purpose is to discuss how an imaginary line traced in the desert sand turned into a border barrier that ended up conditioning the contact between two nations and their respective populations. This is a complex story whose reconstruction is linked to a long U.S. historiographic tradition regarding the origins of its southwestern border, but it also pertains to contemporary historical studies that analyze the historical problems from distinct foci of analytic interpretation. St. John considers the role of the simultaneous conformation of the state as a political entity in the two countries involved (the United States as well as Mexico), the expansion of capitalism, and the formation of two national identities. Her monograph is mostly focused on the western end of the formal dividing line established in 1848 and adjusted in 1854. St. John's regional focus allows for comparison of this area with the historical transformation that was experienced in other sections of the same international border, especially Juárez-El Paso and the lower Rio Grande. It also allows us to compare her findings with those on other border spaces in other parts of the world.