So Far From God: The U. S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848 by John S.D. Eisenhower
3.0 Stars
1-1-2015

A decent summary of a mostly uninteresting war. I've never read much about the Mexican-American war, and I picked up this book to fill that gap. Every battle in the war follows the same basic pattern:
1) An advancing American army moves up to a Mexican army that has 2-4 times as many troops
2) The Mexican army is hunkered down in defensive positions, since they don't have the leadership, training, or morale for offensive operations.
3A) The American army uses its superior artillery to blast away at the defenses, and then charges in after several hours or days of that. Or,
3B) The American army moves around to a vulnerable flank of the defenses, and starts rolling the defensive line up from one side to the other.
4) Massive route/surrender of the Mexican army, starting from the top.

This process happens ~8 times over the course of the war, with only one deviation. After that, viola, the bloody and unjust war of expansion is complete.

I feel somewhat dumb for saying this, but my favorite part of the book was the portraits. After 30 years of fighting, General Taylor looks suitably nonplussed by the whole experience. Polk looks eerily like Lucius Malfoy. Winfield Scott is suitably craggy and blustery.