Now fully updated and revised, this book systematically explores the dynamic interface between Mexico and the United States. In a comprehensive, richly illustrated survey, the authors consider the historical development, current politics and key issues, society, environment, economy, and daily life of the border region.

Includes maps of: Border States and Major Twin Cities; Greater San Diego-Tijuana Region; Paso del Norte Binational Region; Two-Hundred-Kilometer Border Zone Defined in the 1983 U.S.-Mexican La Paz Agreement; Border Zone Defined by Transboundary Watersheds; Border Region Defined by Local Administrative Units; Spanish Administrative Units in the North and Claimed Territory, 1810; Spanish-occupied Land in the North of New Spain, 1810; Principal Railway Lines in the Border Region, about 1900; Brownsville - Cameron County-Matamoros Region; Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Twin Cities; Most Populous Border Metropolitan Regions, 2013; Binational Tijuana River Watershed; Apprehensions of Unauthorized Immigrants by Border Patrol Sector, Fiscal Years 2000 and 2013; Five Leading Border Freight Ports of Entry, Loaded Truck and Rail Containers, 2013.

Introduction: defining the region, objectives, and approaches -- Distinguishing characteristics and early history: frontier, borderlands, and border region -- Booms and busts on the border: economic development, 1880s to 1920s -- Life on the border: social change, 1880s to 1930s -- Booms and busts on the border: the Great Depression and World War II -- Economic trends since 1950: legacies of war and a globalizing economy -- The consequences of rapid growth in the border region: social and cultural change since the 1940s -- Border issues in U.S.-Mexican relations: boundary, environment, health, and Native Americans -- Border issues in U.S.-Mexican relations: drug trafficking, security, migration, NAFTA, and transborder cooperation.