I saw the author one evening on BookTV and I immediatly went out and got the book. If you like aviation history, stories about wild parties, riches to rags stories, or tales about oversexed, hard drinking, foul mouthed women then this is a must read! I give credit to the author for her detail and for her ability to tell the story of a charater like Poncho Barnes and keep the content at a PG-13 level (for the most part). This story is a great lesson on what can happen to a rich child who is not tought the value of a dollar. For those of us who can only read about the rich and wonder what it would be like to be rich and have a good time; well, let me say you will not be disappointed in this read. Pancho is one of those people that you would like to know but (hopefully) not be like. I also learned alot about the early history of Edwards AFB (even how the name was changed to Edwards). I had read Chuck Yeager's Biography years ago and this book ties in and gives the reader a view of life off the base. Read it, you'll have fun.

This book is MUST READ for anyone interested in the histories of aviation, of the 1920s, of Los Angeles, of the California desert, and of Edwards Air Force Base in particular. Pancho Barnes is a larger-than-life character. A slightly sad one, in a way, since she spent her way out of fortune into poverty; but, wow, if you are going to burn the candle at both ends, this is the way to do it. Flying booze in from Mexico during probihition, stunt riding for Hollywood movies (and the Foursquare Gospel), barnstorming the country, giving daily parties for the earliest movie stars, and then providing round-the-clock R&R for all the Right Stuff pilots in the earliest days of experimental jet and rocket flight. Pancho knew how to live it up, tell a story, and deliver a line, and fortunately was appreciated and looked after in her declining years by the pilots she had entertained in the 40s and 50s. This story has hardly even been told (one TV movie was ridiculous) and is still largely esoteric knowledge to the fraternity of pilots.

What I want to know is how I have made it this long without knowing who Pancho Barnes is? I am so happy this book fell into my lap. From page one I was riveted by the extraordinary tales of a woman who outflew Amelia Earhart, partied with the likes of Jimmy Doolittle and Chuck Yeager, and put John Wayne in his place. She lived hard and fast and when it comes to wild women, Pancho was the best. She grew up rich, live her life with her own rules and disappeared in to obscurity for years. What happened to Pancho? Read and find out!

"Pancho Villa" is written in a straight-forward style that is accessible and blunt, like a boy's adventure novel. I am not an expert on the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath, so I can't really comment on the accuracy of the book, but any reader should know ahead of time that the book is a veritable bloodbath. Villa and his men are portrayed as near psychopaths with only the most simplistic of political motivations. What they enjoy most is POWER and everything it brings - mostly free sex and the ability to kill at will. The author is certainly consistent - if not monotonous - in his presentation.

I've never read a James Carlos Blake novel before. I bought this, hesitantly, off a remainder shelf... Frankly, I'm amazed it was there. This is a tremendous book, replete with wonderful characters, an interesting plot, and wonderful atmosphere. The author has recreated the time of the Mexican revolution wonderfully, and the main character, and narrator, is someone you'd like to sit and have a conversation with...though not in a dark alley.

Rudy Fierro is there, throughout the whole of the Mexican revolution, and Pancho Villa's fight with the various people in power in Mexico City. The various people involved are tremendously depicted, and there's a parade of minor characters, some historical, some not. Both Ambrose Bierce and George Patton, not to mention John Pershing, make appearances. The author does a marvelous job of portraying men for whom it is nothing to shoot several hundred people, and then go have dinner.

Frankly, I was surprised by how good this book was. I found another one on the same remainder shelf, and after that I'll be hitting the used bookstore.

This is one of the greatest novels I've heard of Pancho Villa.

Despite the book's overt schism of black/white relations, it delves into history, overall, in a much deeper sense. This book is wonderfully cultivated with the history of literature and its various canons. The allusions are vast, covering the ancients up to Ellison's day (at the point of completion--late 50's). It is clear, however, that the transcendalists writers (Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Melville, Hawthorne), as well as Joycean stylism are deeply embedded in Ellison's brilliant techniques in the book. More importantly, Ellison's has created this book as a teaching tool of great Black Leaders, such as Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Marcus Garvey, as well as other African-American significances of past. In short, the invisible man's nameless character represents his inexistence and trampled upon character as a black man enraptured in a darwinian duel, fighting his way through his naivete against his oppressors, which happens to be blacks and whites in the big Apple--New York City. I highly recommend this book to all Americans, as it is highly placed not just in African-American literature, but literature, in general. It takes a very close reading, perhaps twice to envelope its marvelous reign among all novels.

this book was cool. it was kind of long. but cool. you should read it if you feel like it. and if you have time becasue it is knid of long. but good. you should read it. okay bye.

Start with the title- Invisible Man. Not "The Invisbible Man," but Invisible Man. Even with our main character's attempts at being visible (i.e. the light company, the various soci-political orgainzations) he still wound up invisible, miserable in some cold, dank basement.

I've just finished reading this amazing account of history's most famous or infamous guerilla fighter, Pancho Villa. What an intriguing individual Villa was, and what a great job Lansford does in bringing this figure to life in your head. The pages flew by and I was disappointed the book had to end. I can't remember when a book has so held my attention span and gripped my thoughts that I could feel the desert heat and taste the trail dust in my mouth. I wish my history books had been this interesting in school. When's his next book coming?

I read a lot, but I've seldom read a biography as exciting as Pancho Villa by William Douglas Lansford. Turning its pages is almost like watching a movie, the action is so fast and vivid and the depiction of Pancho Villa is terrific! On your scale, I give it 5 full stars!

William Douglas Lansford's book "Pancho Villa" paints an enlightening perspective of the man behind the image the "Bandido." This beautifully written story illustrates how a single act of defensive violence leads Villa to commanding the epic struggle of the Mexican Revolution. Lansford's moving words and true-life story telling portrays a man of humble beginnings, common faults and military genius; a fascinating story that needed to be told.

Nice places to go to in Arizona.

Well thought out and written. I enjoy seeking out new places to go and the book has a bunch of neat places to explore.

Please remember though that this is Arizona. I mean a nice pool of water described might be just that in Feb or March - but come May or June it might be a flowing river of green! And a nice pool described in the book ya need to take with a grain of salt!! Some places I have enjoyed the discovery of finding it and soon thought jeez this is just the same ol same ol stuff. Make an adventure out of seeking out the places and enjoying the outdoors.

This is a fun book. Water holes and waterfalls are covered from Tucson to Moab. Several are short day hikes suitable for any fit person. Owning a large selection of hiking books I was surprised to find rarely mentioned areas. Pancho Doll really did explore the state to find some rare gems. He is a very likeable guy with a great sense of humor. Topographic maps are included in the book. The book is tied together with a website. You send in your receipt to get a password. Then you can print out the maps so you don't need to carry the whole book. In all honesty though... GPS readings are not real accurate on several spots. You can find the spots without GPS so it doesn't matter. A skinny dipping symbol indicates your chances of finding a secluded spot. After each region is a "why bother" list of area's Doll doesn't recommend. Keep in mind the why bother is referring to swimming holes and waterfalls. I say that because areas I consider awesome are mentioned on his "why bother" list. Ironically some of the spots in the book carry a boom box symbol indicating large or rowdy crowds. Seems those should be put on the "why bother" list!

Overall this is a great book. Pancho worked hard on putting it together. With over seventy destinations it's a great value. I give the book a 4 because it's proved valuable over the years. It appears Poncho prints this book himself. The effort is recognized and I'm sure it will only get better in future editions.

This is definitely a book that I wish I had years ago. It has tons of different places to hike to in Arizona and Southern Utah with swimming holes. It can be somewhat challenging to find water in the Southwest, so this book is a great guide. It is filled with lots of descriptions of the places, maps and pictures of each water hole. This is an ultimate book for exploring the southwest.

Texana Jones runs a trading post in the arid desert town of Polvo along the Texas-Mexico border. When a Hollywood company returns to the area to film a sequel to a ten year old movie about Pancho Villa, old questions of a long unsolved murder arise. It is up to Texana and her husband Clay, the local vet, to sort out the details and solve the mystery.

This is a modest and somewhat passive mystery novel. The crime is ten years cold as the tale opens and the telling of the story never warms up beyond the heat of an autumn evening in Polvo. Not much happens to generate a passion for the story. We are treated to descriptions of Texana's daily luncheon menu, but there just isn't enough red herring to whet our appetite. The bland characters add little to the excitement, and we have little opportunity to relate to either the late lamented victim or the perpetrator of the dastardly deed.

On the other hand, Ms. Martin has a keen feel for the nuances of the people and customs of the story's locale and she does a fine job of transferring her sense of place to the reader. I was intrigued by the depth of detail she conveys in such an unintrusive way.

The three star rating I give this book indicates a novel which places somewhere below "excellent" and certainly above "a waste of your time." Indeed, it is the type of book which just about fits the bill for a quick summer read or a curl up by the fireplace winter diversion.

I have enjoyed the Allana Martin series a great deal because I know the area she writes of so well (as obviously Publisher's "Weakly" does not--they have the wrong river. Texana lives on the Rio Grande, well over a hundred miles from any stretch of the Pecos River). I know the area well and Martin has captured it exquisitely. That, along with the development of her characters, both major and minor, makes the series worthwhile. Most of her mysteries don't necessarily hold the reader breathlessly enthralled. However, if one follows the series, the borderlands of Texas come alive.
In this story, for example, Texana Jones, the narrator, has to come to terms with her recluse father and the memory of her mother. The events of the present-day movie-making reveal an entire new picture of her parents. In many of our own lives, we suddenly stumble upon some fact or event which radically alters our view of our parents and the memories we hold of them. The greater mystery in this tale lies in the relationships of the past than the murders, either then or now. I found the crafted redrawing of histories, Texana's, her parents',Polvo's, and even that of the Villista quite entertaining and thought-provoking.
I recommend this book, especially if you have followed the series in order. Ms. Martin's tales collectively may be less mysterious than one might desire, but they do demystify one of the last frontiers.

Decades ago, moviemakers came to the west Texas town where Texana Jones lives with her vet-husband--and one of them was killed. Now, some of the stars are returning to film a documentary and memories of that long-ago murder are resurfacing.

Texana can ignore a threatening note, but when a mobile home is destroyed and several people injured, she has to investigate. She learns more than she wanted to know about the past--her mother's relationship with the victim, and an excellent motive for her father to have been the killer.

Author Allana Martin does a wonderful job describing the wild west Texas country, but also the close-knit community that it inspires. Some of the best scenes in this novel come where Texana is simply experiencing her every-day life--which is much of a mystery to those of us who live in urban areas.

Another fine effort in this enjoyable series.

I was so excited when I found a book of this nature. I love waterfalls and swimming holes so I swooped up the book. I knew of some of the places in the book already, such as University Falls. The directions he gives to that place would have someone drowing in the Rubicon before finding University Falls. One day my best friend and I packed up the kids and set out for another destination in the book. We spent most of the morning trying to find the trailhead-and the other part of the day getting lost trying to find the swimming hole. The kids were whinning, hot and tired and we were disappointed if not straight up mad! We found a guy who lived in the area who laughted very hard when he read the directions (straight out of the book). Just about everything was incorrect. Wrong forest road number, wrong forest road, didn't bother to mention several turn offs, and it wouldn't have mattered if we were on the right road because the road indicated didn't really go where Doll stated it did. If you have GPS you're in luck. You're gonna need it. At the end of each chapter Doll lists Why Bother places. Doll doesn't included directions or pictures for those places but I managed to find a few on my own and they were gorgeous!

A friend from Italy turned me on to this book while he was visiting California. Viggo had met a
woman kayaking while she was using the book to discover some hidden hot springs. I picked up the
book and it fuels my imagination with all the potential lovely wet adventures so near at hand. I was
familiar with some of the spots but others still remain for more exploration.

Ever since I was young, I have been in search of the secret, awesome swimming hole. To plagiarize, it is the stuff dreams are made of. We have visited two of the sites described already. In both cases, Pancho Doll's directions and advice were right on the money. In some cases, I can see how the book needs more directions because it largely uses GPS coordinates, assuming the reader has a Global Position System device. But someone who is good with maps and talking with locals (part of the fun!) should not have a problem. It is wonderful that someone has written such a book with such captivating style and good on-site research. Bravo, Pancho! I also was able to speak with him because he uses a dictation device we manufacture. He was every bit as thoughtful on the phone as in his writings. I can only hope he will continue to update and fine tune his writings. The only concern is that somehow all us readers have to help keep these places well preserved and prevent abuse.

Probably, the most important thing about this book is the fact that, though its subject is one of the most misunderstood characters of world history, it rests on an extremely rigorous research. Prof. Katz, one of the most serious and best historians you can read, and a specialist in Mexico, sought and found every available source of information. His history is as objective as it could be. But this is much more than just a biography of Pancho Villa; it is a history of the Mexican Revolution that develops around Villa and his movement. Besides, the life of Villa is more impressive, exciting and interesting than many, many fictional characters, even when the historian puts the legends aside and stays within the boundaries of solid data. It is really a pity that most people have an idea of Villa which comes from easy novels (like "The friends of Pancho Villa"). These novels may be good or bad, but most of the time they are pure fantasy. For example, most of them paint Villa as a bandit who led a disorderly band of killers. Well, surprise! Villa, who certainly had a past as an outlaw, managed to organize the most formidable war machine of the Revolution. During the 1910-1911, and 1913-1915 campaigns, his army was the best in terms of logistics, organization, discipline, morale, and strategy (until Villa made serious mistakes and Obregon defeated him). And more surprises: of all the revolutionary armies, Villa's was the most disciplined in terms of their behavior. Villa strongly prohibited and punished vandalism, rapes, destruction and raids. This is not to say they were a band of angels, but their cruelty and the devastation they created must be put in context. Carranza's army was much more terrible, and Carranza was no bandit, but a wealthy landowner. Anyway, this is a magnificent piece of work, extremely readable. Of course, it will not satisfy the reviewer below, who was looking for ten minutes of information in the Brittanica (very flawed, by the way), or the person who was looking just for "stories" and less "information". This, though extremely enjoyable, is serious history for serious readers who, along the way, find the amazing story of a contradictory man, with great wits, poor education, no significant traces of corruption (he had multiple opportunities to steal, run and keep the money, and never did it), extreme attitudes of cruelty, ruthlesness, violence, and also generosity, tenderness, and loyalty. Neither simple bandit nor saint: just an extraordinary man living in the hardest of times, escaping from death time after time, until the last time. Fictional characters don't get more amazing and historians don't get any better.

This is a great book. Not since John Womack's "Zapata & the Mexican Revolution" 2 decades ago has such a scholarly, well-written, moving account of the Mexican Revolution found its way into english. The book was, obviously, a labor of love and the labor of a career for Katz, who must have mined every possible source to generate a full-blooded picture of Villa himself, how he fit into the revolution, and the revolution'sown history. The book's length is formidable & off-putting, but not a difficult read at all ... I would recommend that people who might be scared off by its size try reading the first 50 pages or so before they conclude it is just too lengthy. I think most of you will find yourselves drawn in during that first immersion, and end-up buying (or taking it out of the library).

"The Life and Times of Pancho Villa" is the most complete source for information regarding this internationally recognized Mexican warrior. Katz, unlike other authors, gives a complete biography of the man, his myths and his legacy; as well as the geopolitical background corresponding to the periods of Villa's life. Both as a historian and a mexican, I feel that this is the one piece of literature that is completely indispensable for anyone that wants to know what happened during the so-called "mexican revolution" at the beginnings of the century and how this situation fits in with the rest of the world at this time. (i.e. The first World War)
Quite simply, I feel that this comprehensive book is definitely worth a deep read, yet it also satisfies those curious people who are in for a quick browse.

If all the men who claim to have ridden with Pancho Villa had actually done so, Pancho's rebel battalions would have made Mexico resemble a human anthill. -- If your a fan of Pancho Villa this is the book for you. It cuts out the politcal and sociological reasons for Villa's personality and gives the reader what they want pure stories about the Mexican: bandido/revolutionary/womanizer/Robin Hood/ whatever you think of him as. This book is a definite if you are doing research on Mi General or simply for reading enjoyment. It has a bunch of the colorful accounts of men that rode with Villa such as Martin Fierro, (the butcher) Otis Aultman, (legend has it the only man to curse at Villa and live) and many others. It is full of many colorful one of a kind stories that make Pancho Villa who he is. It is definitely worth buying

This title deals mostly with U.S. Cavalry weapons end equipment, less with clothing. The Campaign of 1916 as well as several innovations, introduced during that period (motor transport, airplanes and radios) are also briefly discussed. Most of the pictures in this book are a little bit too dark, otherwise it is a great reference and a good addition to Randy Steffen's "The Horse Soldier"