Welcome to the San Diego - Tijuana border at the end of the last century. 9/11 had not happened yet, the war on terrorism had not been declared and the drugs and people trafficking seem to be the biggest issue.

The book is not a straight narrative history - its 7 chapters and an epilogue are mostly consecutive and somewhat non-related although the same people show up in different chapters and these additional sightings add more flesh to the chapters around the characters. It's a book about the border but in the widest possible definition of the term - political assassinations and drug wars; the prison in the area and the narcotics -- all of them are part of the border life and as such part of this story. Because despite all, the book emerges as one story - the story of shattered hopes, lost lives and hope.

In a way the book is a political history of Mexico and the region around Tijuana. In order to tell the story of the border, Rotella need to tell the story of the town and the region; and as it is tied to the national one, it needs to be told. Despite its name the book does not try to talk for the whole border - the Arizona crossing comes into the picture late in the book because of the changes done in San Diego -- but the ones on the East are mentioned only in passing - when they are needed to explain an action. And this makes the book a lot more focused and much better suited to look into the border conflict (or war... choose your own word). Because some of the problems are either a result of the past in this place or because of political and administrative choices done exactly here and not across the whole border.

And the story is chilling - the bodies pile up, the killers keep slipping from justice and proud men that try to change the system pay with their lives or have to declare a defeat. A cardinal, a president candidate, policemen - it does not matter - the border takes its victims. And this does not account for all the people that die trying to cross - the book is talking about them but they are almost invisible. And it is not because this is how Rotella decided to tell the story - it is because in the grand scheme of things, the people trying to cross the border are the least of the problems of the Border. Which of course does not stop the author from examining the ways this is done or having a lot of stories about them. Some of the best stories are about the boats that try to get to USA and end up in Mexico, the separated families and the people that feed from them. It is a book about the border after all.

The book is now 14 years old and most of the events are from the decade before the book is published. And yet, it sounds vital and current - names had changed, some steps had been taken, but the Border is the same. And even if it ever changes, the book contains the history - and maybe it is about time we all to start learning from it. ( )