To the Halls of the Montezumas The Mexican War in the American Imagination [Paperback]

For mid-19th-century Americans, the Mexican War was not only a grand exercise in self-identity, legitimizing the young republic's convictions of mission and destiny to a doubting world; it was also the first American conflict to be widely reported in the press and to be waged against an alien foe in a distant and exotic land. It provided a window onto the outside world and promoted an awareness of a people and a land unlike any Americans had known before. This rich cultural history examines the place of the Mexican War in the popular imagination of the era. Drawing on military and travel accounts, newspaper dispatches, and a host of other sources, Johannsen vividly recreates the mood and feeling of the period--its unbounded optimism and patriotic pride--and adds a new dimension to our understanding of both the Mexican War and America itself.

An elegant analysis. --History: Reviews of New Books

A sustained and interesting narrative. --Journal of the Early Republic

This is an enlightening study which sets the Mexican War in its immediate context, rather than viewing it as a mere incident in the sectional conflict. --History

Johannsen's careful construction and elegant style make the book a pleasure to read, a rarity in today's world. --Southwest Review

Mr. Johannsen lightens his study with many lively quotations and provocative insights. --The New York Times Book Review

There has never been a book on this subject that so brilliantly illuminates us as a people of almost hilarious contradictions. --American Heritage

This reviewer cannot recall any volume which better describes American patriotic opinion during the 'fabulous forties.' --International History Review

A major contribution to our understanding of the impact of...the 1846-48 conflict with Mexico. --New Mexico Historical Review

An extremely il9