Book Review - The Eagle and the Serpent by John Selby

The Eagle and the Serpent: The Spanish and American Invasions of Mexico: 1519 and 1846

by John Selby                         London: Hamish Hamilton, 1978      ISBN 0241897475


A short and interesting book, reminding us that Mexico in the time of the Aztecs and the Spanish covered much of the Southwest of what became the United States. Selby describes in the first half of this book how Spain took over not only Mexico's heartland, but expanded into what is now Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, and, in the second half, how the United States took much of the aforementioned territory from them.

For this reader, the story of Cortes and his march on Tenochtitlan and subsequent overthrow of the Aztec Empire is a familiar one. It still boggles the mind that such a small group of Spaniards could overthrow such a civilization, albeit with help from local Indian allies. While the theory that personalities can shape history is these days seen as a dated way to look at the past, there seems little doubt that both Cortes' strength of will, and Moctezuma's weakness of character both bore strongly on the outcome of their clash.

Spanish reach soon covered most of today's Mexico, and expanded Northwards, driven by missionaries. While ostensibly part of Mexico, this Northern part was in many respects independent, being hard to reach overland owing to the desert country in between it and metropolitan Mexico, and through lack of population.

Mexico were keen to increase population in these areas, partly for development, but also to forestall the encroaching Americans from taking the land. Ironically, it was to the US that they looked for immigrants, and in the early 1800s quite a few people moved West to try their luck under the flag of Mexico.

It wasn't long before the "natives" got restless, and skirmishes developed between the new immigrants and those who had been there longer. The lack of effective governmental control did not help the situation, nor did the incursions of US "explorers", who were mostly military men with eventual conquest on their mind.

The banning of further US immigration into Texas began the break-up of this part of Mexico, with disaffected locals declaring the Republic of Texas, and,with US help, cementing their independence. Further unrest followed further West, with Americans in California working to undermine the sovereignty of Mexico and move to US control. The ascension of Polk as President, and his desire to acquire land, moved the conflict into open war.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government was very unstable, with Santa Anna the cause of much of that instability. His military efforts were mostly ineffective, and when the US Army invaded and took Mexico City, there was little the Mexican Government could do but accede to the US offer to purchase the land that became Arizona, New Mexico and California.

Selby's book is a clear, concise introduction to a period of history that non-Americans might be surprised to know occurred in the way it did. There is a useful (if now dated) bibliography as well.

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell