Pancho Villa: Mexican Revolutionary Hero (Proud Heritage: the Hispanic Library)

Stein confronts the legends and stories that have grown up around the life of Pancho Villa in the book's first chapter, such as the story of why he became a bandit; a sidebar considers the question of whether this story if "Fact or Fiction?" Stein also explains that in Mexico a "bandit" has a touch of Robin Hood in him. The second chapter covers the beginning of the Mexican Revolution and how Villa led the people of northern Mexico during that time, including the Battle of Ciudad Juarez. The next chapter looks at Mexican at War with Itself and how Villa was portrayed in the American press. Death of a Hero, the final chapter, tells of Villa's assassination in 1923, and a sidebar points out that between 1 and 2 million Mexicans died as a direct result of the war, versus 500,000 Americans killed during the Civil War.

Given all that usually appears in American history textbooks about Pancho Villa is how General John J. Pershing pursued him into Mexico during the Wilson administration (although he might be referred to as the "George Washington of Mexico"), Stein provides a very informative book. I was surprised to learn that I knew so little about the real Pancho Villa. This volume is illustrated mostly with historic photographs of Villa and his contemporaries. The back of the book includes a Time Line of not only Villa's life but the history of the nation of Mexico, a Glossary of terms from "assassination" to "tortillas," and a list of books and web sites that provide Further Information.

The first eight volumes in The Hispanic Library were published last year and this one on Villa is one this year's eight new volumes. The others are devoted to "Christopher Columbus: Opening the Americas to European Exploration," "Emiliano Zapata: Revolutionary and Champion of Poor Farmers," "Frida Kahlo: An Artist Celebrates Life," "Hernando Cortes: Conquistador and Empire Builder," and "Mario Molina: Chemist and Nobel Prize Winner," as well as volumes on "The Changing Face of America: Hispanic Roots, Hispanic Pride" and "The Conquistadores: Building a Spanish Empire in the Americas." Since Hispanics are now officially the second largest ethnic group in the country this series should be a source of pride for some young Americans and a font of information for the rest.