LAUSR

the extraordinary feats of Sarah Bowman, one of the few female camp followers in the US Army, who gained a reputation for heroism for her efforts to feed and nurse soldiers on the battlefield. These women found that warfare brought both suffering and opportunities to assert their strength and independence. This study has some shortcomings. Belohlavek covers a lot of terrain in his effort to trace the myriad of ways women on both sides of the Rio Grande participated in the Mexican–American War. This breadth of scope comes at the expense of deeper historiographical engagement. While Belohlavek references recent scholarship, he rarely questions the theories of other historians or offers fresh ones of his own. His contention that women have been largely absent from histories of the Mexican–American War is well made. However, Belohlavek misses an opportunity to show how addressing this oversight might help us think differently about broader topics such as race, gender, or foreign policy in either the United States or Mexico. While he makes a commendable effort to describe the experiences of women from across the social spectrum, moreover, Belohlavek’s examinations of the lives of the white elite are the most detailed and extensive. With this said, there is much of value in this book. Belohlavek’s greatest strength is his ability to paint vivid portrayals of the social and cultural worlds which his subjects inhabited. In this sense, his study is a useful introduction to a range of subjects, from the history of the Mexican–American War to politics in the antebellum United States. While Belohlavek is clearly impressed by the bravery and fortitude of some of the women he analyses, he is not overly reverent and acknowledges both their achievements and weaknesses. Finally, his writing style is elegant, and the clarity and comprehensiveness of his book will make it an enjoyable read for newcomers to the subject and more experienced scholars alike.