author of Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade M Peter Andreas
"Here’s the book I've been waiting for: a well-researched history of the clandestine side of U.S.-Mexico trade relations. Today’s heated debates about an out-of-control border too often suffer from historical amnesia. Díaz has given us a much-needed historical corrective and reality check, reminding us that the border has never actually been under control."
Peter Andreas
"Here’s the book I've been waiting for: a well-researched history of the clandestine side of U.S.-Mexico trade relations. Today’s heated debates about an out-of-control border too often suffer from historical amnesia. Díaz has given us a much-needed historical corrective and reality check, reminding us that the border has never actually been under control."
Angelo State University Arnoldo De León
"Border Contraband finds that borderlanders in the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo area accepted everyday illegal smuggling when the practice benefited bargain-conscious consumers. At the same time, however, community values discountenanced the smuggling of alcohol and guns, for such trafficking attracted organized crime. To document this understudied phenomenon, George Díaz draws on solid primary sources deposited in some of the richest archives in Mexico and the United States. Kudos to this first work by an up-and-coming young historian."
Arnoldo De León
"Border Contraband finds that borderlanders in the Laredo–Nuevo Laredo area accepted everyday illegal smuggling when the practice benefited bargain-conscious consumers. At the same time, however, community values discountenanced the smuggling of alcohol and guns, for such trafficking attracted organized crime. To document this understudied phenomenon, George Díaz draws on solid primary sources deposited in some of the richest archives in Mexico and the United States. Kudos to this first work by an up-and-coming young historian."
Oscar J. Martínez
"This book addresses a major border subject that has long been neglected by scholars, a neglect that is largely explained by the difficulty of researching an illegal activity such as smuggling. George Díaz has done a commendable job of unearthing source materials both in the United States and Mexico that shed light on the subject. The book is well written, interesting, and informative, and is well illustrated by many examples of individual smugglers and contrabandista activities. . . . It will be very useful to scholars, students, and general readers."
Oscar J. Martínez
"This book addresses a major border subject that has long been neglected by scholars, a neglect that is largely explained by the difficulty of researching an illegal activity such as smuggling. George Díaz has done a commendable job of unearthing source materials both in the United States and Mexico that shed light on the subject. The book is well written, interesting, and informative, and is well illustrated by many examples of individual smugglers and contrabandista activities. . . . It will be very useful to scholars, students, and general readers."
José Angel Hernández
"Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande provides one the first full-length historical monographs that historicizes the changing practices and perceptions of everyday smuggling between Mexico and the United States over the course of a century. In this fascinating analysis of ‘common smuggling’ between Texas and Northeastern Mexico, historian George T. Díaz illustrates how these two states attempted to control and regulate ‘illicit trade’ between these border locales, and how everyday people subverted state and federal efforts to impinge upon what many considered to be part and parcel of a broader ‘moral economy.’ Those looking to contextualize the genealogy of smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border would be wise to consider pondering these questions with a reading of Border Contraband."
José Angel Hernández
"Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande provides one the first full-length historical monographs that historicizes the changing practices and perceptions of everyday smuggling between Mexico and the United States over the course of a century. In this fascinating analysis of ‘common smuggling’ between Texas and Northeastern Mexico, historian George T. Díaz illustrates how these two states attempted to control and regulate ‘illicit trade’ between these border locales, and how everyday people subverted state and federal efforts to impinge upon what many considered to be part and parcel of a broader ‘moral economy.’ Those looking to contextualize the genealogy of smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border would be wise to consider pondering these questions with a reading of Border Contraband."
Elaine Carey
"Far from Washington, DC, and Mexico City, borderlanders smuggled licit and illicit products. While bureaucrats attempted to control the smugglers, they were celebrated in popular culture, and some rose to be pillars of their communities. In a well-researched, accessible, and engaging study, George Díaz documents the ebb and flow of an array of commodities and the lives of those who subverted federal laws, whether for profit or survival, on both sides of the border."
José Angel Hernández
"Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande provides one the first full-length historical monographs that historicizes the changing practices and perceptions of everyday smuggling between Mexico and the United States over the course of a century. In this fascinating analysis of ‘common smuggling’ between Texas and Northeastern Mexico, historian George T. Díaz illustrates how these two states attempted to control and regulate ‘illicit trade’ between these border locales, and how everyday people subverted state and federal efforts to impinge upon what many considered to be part and parcel of a broader ‘moral economy.’ Those looking to contextualize the genealogy of smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border would be wise to consider pondering these questions with a reading of Border Contraband."
Arnoldo De León
"Border Contraband finds that borderlanders in the Laredo–Nuevo Laredo area accepted everyday illegal smuggling when the practice benefited bargain-conscious consumers. At the same time, however, community values discountenanced the smuggling of alcohol and guns, for such trafficking attracted organized crime. To document this understudied phenomenon, George Díaz draws on solid primary sources deposited in some of the richest archives in Mexico and the United States. Kudos to this first work by an up-and-coming young historian."
Oscar J. Martínez
"This book addresses a major border subject that has long been neglected by scholars, a neglect that is largely explained by the difficulty of researching an illegal activity such as smuggling. George Díaz has done a commendable job of unearthing source materials both in the United States and Mexico that shed light on the subject. The book is well written, interesting, and informative, and is well illustrated by many examples of individual smugglers and contrabandista activities. . . . It will be very useful to scholars, students, and general readers."
