spine flex. edge foxing. cover cloth smudges.  faded and wrinkled spine, and  minor edge wear.  page edges starting to yellow. no marks on text. dustjacket tanned with edge  holes. pieces missing, and creases  and tears.

In 1911 an unusual and exciting political drama took place in Baja California, Mexico, along the boundary separating Mexico and the United States. Ricardo Flores Magon, a Mexican anarchist, hoped to supplant the popular Francisco Madrero as leader in the general struggle to topple Mexico's longtime dictator, Porfirio Diaz. Flores Magon's Liberal party, however, gained an edge only in Baja California. From exile in Los Angeles, he launched a military campaign in Mexico's wild and thinly populated peninsular territory of Lower California. In no time his small force came to a standstill in an area dominated by powerful American interests, an area that in days past had been the target of more than one raid in freebooters aiming at American annexation. The Liberal army consisted of Mexicans, of members of the famous radical labor organization, the Industrial Workers of the World, and of soldiers of fortune.  One of its leaders, the British adventurer and military officer, Rhys Pryce, disinclined to obey Flores Magon, unexpectedly marched part of the army from its inland desert base to Tijuana and captured the border town. Here he fell in with Dick Ferris, an actor-adventurer, promoter, and clown. When Madero won out in mainland Mexico Pryce decided to quit in Lower California. However, Dick Ferris seized toe opportunity to utilize a handful of the army to stage a comic opera attack. Although Floes Magon quickly recovered control and firmly disavowed any idea that he favored annexation, the damage was done. The farcical episode dashed his hopes of exerting active leadership in the Mexico Revolution, and he ended his career in a prison in the United States.  This study is a full-length, dispassionate and unbiased account of those much misunderstood event. Aside from the fascination of the story and the oddly assorted cast of characters involved, the book performs a valuable service in dispelling many doubts and suspicious about the real motives behind this curious side-chapter in the saga of the great Mexican Revolution. It should contribute to a better understanding of the sometimes uneasy relations that have existed between the United States and its neighbor to the south.