In the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth, Porfirio Díaz pursued an aggressive campaign to modernize Mexico, conceiving of a powerful national military as a crucial instrument of change. Bringing men from all over the country together in a technologically advanced, Europeanized military would foster a great sense of pride in an emerging Mexican identity. It would also provide educational opportunity to the masses, at least those who served the nation. Mexico at the time faced no foreign enemy; therefore, Díaz turned his attention to putting down restive regions such as Sonora in the far north and the Yucatán in the south, binding them more firmly to the rest of the country through military might.

The present book is a thorough reworking of Neufeld's 2009 University of Arizona doctoral dissertation, which was at the time the only study in English or Spanish of the military as an institutional agent of change in Mexican society. In the eight intervening years, a few studies have examined specific aspects of the role of the military in Mexican society, but Neufeld's is still the only comprehensive examination of the subject. He uses a series of vignettes to frame the more traditional historical narrative. Each chapter begins and ends with a progression in a linear tale of the lives of Diego, a young man from the interior of Mexico forced into military service; Melchora, his soldadera companion; and Salvador, a rather inadequate junior officer. Each chapter comprises numerous subtitled sections, each offering another episode in the tale. The story of the three young Mexicans constitutes a tragically romantic novella. Given the deftness with which the author creates conventional historical drama in his narrative, this literary device with its predictable denouement seems superfluous, although some readers will doubtless find it engaging.

Although the book ostensibly covers the entire Porfiriato (1876–1911), the focus is on the period from 1880 to 1905, the period in which Neufeld perceives the most rapid changes in the Mexican military. Each of the eight chapters concentrates on a particular aspect of military life in the Mexican army. Most Mexican soldiers entered the army as forced conscripts by means of the dreaded leva, whereby detachments of troops went through the countryside and dragged off men of military age to serve a three-year term. Once in uniform, the recruits underwent an often brutal training period based on drill and ritual until they emerged as soldiers. An aspect of the Porfirian military to which the author devotes special attention is one unique to modern armies: the involvement of soldaderas in barracks life and on campaign. Not merely camp followers, soldaderas provided comfort, pleasure, and support to Mexican soldiers. At times, they played a vital role in keeping troops in the field supplied with provisions.

A junior officer in the Porfirian army enjoyed access to excellent educational opportunities, on par with the world's best military academies, and the chance to spend time in European capitals. For those who excelled at their studies and had good connections, there were paths to advancement in rank, both in the military and in Mexican society. Many of the leaders of Mexico in the years following the Porfiriato rose to prominence in part because of successful military careers. The author's focus on subalterns, common soldiers, and women in the military milieu marks him as a practitioner of New Military History, although he does write about combat and seems to have a flair for it. New Military History eschews such subjects as battles, generals, tactics, and weaponry, in favor of the role of the military in culture, economics, and politics.

Based on Neufeld's extensive research in Mexican military and diplomatic archives, contemporary newspapers, literary accounts, and popular music, this work is a major contribution to the historiography of Mexico and offers keen insight into the abysmal reputation of its modern military and culture of violence.