For the museum's book club. . .
Romo takes a slightly different approach to local history--he's looking at the geography of a city to discover the layers of history. And in a town like El Paso, which is literally on top of the border, well, geography means a lot.

While reading this book, I found myself wishing I knew a bit more about the Mexican Revolution and Pancho Villa. This isn't to say Romo didn't do a good job of setting the stage, just that I think I would have gotten more out of it if I was already familiar with the story. But he does an excellent job of showing the layers within the story--tales of a spiritualist healer/spark for revolution, the musicians, the journalists, the filmmakers. Really good stuff.

The most startling was the chapter on crossing the border---and the gasoline baths required for anyone coming in to El Paso. Horrifying stuff.

Lots of great pictures and documents. Kudos for this very different kind of Texas history. It will be interesting to see what the conversation will be on Tuesday, especially since most of the book club ladies are of a very different generation.