THE CROSSING El Paso, the Southwest, and Americas Forgotten Origin Story

Narrator Timothy Andrés Pabon brings numerous essential skills to this richly detailed history of El Paso, Texas. Most important are his command of languages and accents, and a degree of conviction that supports the author's distinctly Southwestern and multicultural perspective. Parker, a respected journalist who, sadly, died the week this book was published, argues that El Paso, not New York, was the key crossing in American migration, and he summons the full history of the Southwest in support. Heroes and villains are writ large, and a chief heavy is President James Polk, father of the Mexican-American War. Pabon's unmistakable outrage underscores a shameful chronicle of exploitation, violence, and enslavement , and provides a moral compass for looking back on the Southwest's many-layered past. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2025]