{"product_id":"pancho-villa-and-black-jack-pershing-the-punitive-expedition-in-mexico-9780313350047","title":"Pancho Villa and Black Jack Pershing: The Punitive Expedition in Mexico","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe focus of this book is the Expedition  the Villistas  and their leader Francisco Pancho Villa. Villas early life witnessed the advent of the typewriter  the telephone  linotype  the automobile  the Kodak camera  the first motion pictures  wireless telegraphy  the airplane  and the radio. In the days before his defeat at Columbus and the subsequent routing of his bands by the Punitive Expedition  Villa had a coterie of journalists wherever he traveled  and he went to great lengths to secure their comfort. In return they provided him with what today would be called good press  and American public opinion was shaped in a generally favorable direction. Villa instinctively realized that image was everything: it was not what you were that mattered but rather what you seemed to be that really counted. In addition to the American newspaper press  both Mexican and American photographers contributed to Villas role as a legendary hero. A photographic record unprecedented in the annals of bandit-heroes spread the legend  and motion pictures gave an extraordinary boost to his notoriety. He is arguably the most widely recognized Mexican in America  and his picture is often found on the walls of Mexican-American restaurants.  Catching Villa would prove to be difficult  and to do it  Black Jack Pershing and his force needed to rely on local intelligence. Pershing referred to his intelligence-gathering organization as the Intelligence Section  whose officers interrogated prisoners  recruited guides  interpreters  and informers  and organized a secret service of Mexican expatriates who were more than willing to provide their services against Villa. There were a number of Japanese who were employed with mixed results  and a few reliable local Mexicans were employed in the Secret Service with fairly good results. The narrative is itself a reflection of the success of the Intelligence Section in gathering information in the field and preserving what was gathered in detailed  written reports. The reports would not have been possible without the cooperation of the local population  particularly in the Guerrero district and specifically in the pueblo of Namiquipa. Both were hotbeds of Villista sentiment  and early Expedition reports stressed the hostility of the locals. Within a matter of weeks of its arrival  however  the local situation had changed radically. Local farmers were collaborating with the Americans  selling their labor and supplies to the troops and  more importantly  furnishing the invaders with military intelligence.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648089153589,"sku":"ByrdShop_0313350043","price":37.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780313350047.jpg?v=1781709083","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/pancho-villa-and-black-jack-pershing-the-punitive-expedition-in-mexico-9780313350047","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}