Mark J. Hainds

A simple book and easy to understand. I gave it a bit higher rating than I probably would have for two reasons: 1) it has a map and a reasonably good one tis, and 2) I am very familiar with most of the border he hiked beside which brought my interest ( and memories) into play. I worked a substantial portion of the border with oil companies, worked as a park ranger at Amistad NRA and Padre Island NS, have biked, backpacked, hiked, and camped all along the border, and had more than my share of run-ins with BP and the illegals. I have always found the BP to be, to use a kind term, dirt bags and I think that the author leans in that direction on a minority of them. I still occasionally encounter them and my opinion has not changed although, possibly, the really bad ones either retired or moved to our northern border. The illegals, of which I saw many and even helped out a few, were mostly kind, considerate, and scared as hell. I agree with the author’s summation of a border wall. Again, my experiences were different and I visit there in modern times only on occasion, but I found the book an easy read, unnecessarily optimistic regarding US authorities, but on the whole reasonably accurate. Finished 09.04.2020 in Malta.… (mere)