Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande. By George T. Díaz.

Abstract

Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande . Inter-America Series. By George T. Diaz. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015. xiii + 241 pp. Illustrations, maps, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. $45.00.) The Rio Grande border, long a central character in numerous historic accounts of smugglers and revolutionaries, remains a focus for contemporary concerns about security. In Border Contraband , George T. Diaz analyzes the history of smuggling along the river by documenting how fronterizos negotiated the rules and regulations imposed on them by distant capitals. Examining the years between 1848 and 1945, Diaz divides this excellent scholarly work into two phases: first, how smuggling began following the imposition of the legal border (and new tariffs) after the … jgarza2{at}unl.edu