Oscar J. Martínez

Jurez is no ordinary city. Its history is exhilarating and tragic. Located in the state of Chihuahua, on the U.S.-Mexico border opposite El Paso, Texas, Juarez has often captured the world's attention in dramatic fashion. In Ciudad Juarez: Saga of a Legendary Border City, Oscar J. Martinez show more chronicles the economic and social evolution of this famous transnational urban center from the 1848 redrawing of the U.S.-Mexico border to the present, emphasizing the city's deep ties to the United States. Martnez also explores major aspects of the city's social history, including cross-border migration, urbanization, population growth, living standards, working conditions, crime, and the circumstances that catapulted Juarez to the top rung of the world's most violent cities in the early twenty-first century. In countless ways, the history of Jurez is the history of the entire Mexican northern frontier. Understanding the city's evolution provides a greater appreciation for the formidable challenges faced by Mexican fronterizos and yields vital insights into borderlands worldwide. show less