By Paulina Rael Jaramillo
Publisher: Self Published
The purpose of this book is to provide insight on the contribution and struggles of Latinos that helped shape regions and communities throughout the Southwest; although, few main stream history books make little mention of this. For example, the book discusses the deportation of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to Mexico at the onset of the Great Depression without regard to whether they were U.S. citizens or not (½ a million to one million people were deported). This was as great a tragedy as the Japanese Detention Camps during World War II. 
The book includes five main sections – 1) Native American, Spanish and Mexican Periods; 2) Turmoil and Immigration; 3) World War II, The Aftermath & The Chicano Movement; 4) Beyond The Chicano Movement; and 5) Latinos and Education.
It brilliantly captures the struggles, triumphs and contributions of Latinos in the Southwest, looks at the Latino immigration issue (past and present), and the participation of Latinos in education as well as anti-immigration sentiments over four decades and the impacts on society. In addition, the author covers immigration as a whole and how it benefits the United States.
The book is an easy read and includes excellent data and graphs to help the reader put things in perspective and into a time sequence.
The intended audience is everyone. It is written to inform and provide great insight into a piece of history that isn’t captured in other books, yet is so essential in understanding of how America was built.
Although much of the Latino population understands and is aware of the struggles that have occurred, much of main stream America is not yet informed. It is uplifting to see that books are being written to capture the true history of this population’s contribution to history.
I believe that this book achieved its goal and much more. I would definitely recommend this book as it provides much history and information that may not be readily known. This is a great resource book to have.
Source: Book was provided by author for review. It was reviewed by Corina Martinez Chaudhry.
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