Amy S. Greenberg's A Wicked War offers a fascinating glimpse into the history of the United States' invasion of Mexico, revealing the conflict between James K. Polk's expansionist doctrine of "Manifest Destiny" and the more domestic focus of Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln and the Whigs. Bubbling beneath the politics of the Mexican War, the U.S. was strongly divided on the question of slavery--and, for that matter, the attitude of many citizens toward anyone with darker skin: Amerindian, mixed-race mestizo or black slave alike. As president, Polk was hardly circumspect about his intentions: "It was God's will," Greenberg quotes, "that Mexico's richest lands, especially the fertile stretch by the Pacific, pass from its current shiftless residents to hardworking white people better able to husband their resources."
From the end of its own war of independence in 1821 until 1845, Mexico installed and overthrew almost 50 presidents. By 1846, it was a vulnerable collection of fragmented states and territories. With substantial popular support, Polk's war brought a weakened Mexico to its knees, swiftly creating a transcontinental American super-power.
Greenberg's smooth narration is filled with original observations and sources that dig into the personalities and politics behind the events. Although successful, Polk's war became a political albatross. It had the highest desertion rate and casualty rate of any American war and spawned the country's first antiwar movement. Ultimately, it forced the country to resolve its deep division over slavery, bringing Lincoln to the White House and sparking the much more devastating Civil War. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.