Long fascinated with the Mexican Revolution and the vicious border wars
of the early twentieth century, best-selling author Winston Groom brings
to life a much-forgotten period of history in this episodic saga set in
six parts. Pitting the legendary Pancho Villa against "the Colonel," a
thrill-seeking Bostonian railroad tycoon whose fading fortune is tied up
in a colossal ranch in Chihuahua, El Paso opens during a time of
dramatic upheaval in Mexico--its government being squeezed on one end by
Villa's revolutionaries and on the other by "filthy" American
capitalists.
Content to observe the war from aboard his dazzling yacht, the Ajax,
the Colonel is suddenly pulled into this drama when his famous Valle del
Sol ranch is raided for nearly "two million and a half dollars in beef
on the hoof." Oblivious to the realities of war and hoping to salvage
his losses, the Colonel whisks his family down to Mexico where they make
a disturbing discovery: it was Villa who not only stole the cattle but
also murdered their beloved ranch manager. Even worse, Villa's henchmen
abduct the Colonel's grandchildren in another daring raid only days
later.
Frantic, the aging patriarch and his adopted son race to El Paso, hoping
to gather a group of cowboys brave enough to hunt down the generalissimo
on his own turf. As the desperate Yankees quickly learn once they return
to Chihuahua, their deep pockets and political clout mean next to
nothing in a crumbling nation rife with communist sympathizers. After
weeks of searching and with no trace of Villa, the Colonel fears all is
lost--that is, until a twist of fate unites his party with that of
Johnny Ollas, an aspiring matador whose wife has also been kidnapped by
the marauding revolutionaries. Bloodied and battered, the two factions
unite, galloping off on an extraordinary manhunt through some of the
most inhospitable terrain on earth: the vast and snake-ridden Sierra
Madre.
The novel explodes into an epic as an extraordinary cast of characters
from both history and imagination begin to emerge, all vying to get
their hands on the ever-elusive Villa. But no matter what prize each
player ultimately seeks, no one is left unscathed in this sprawling
story of heroism, injustice, and love. Replete with shootouts, daring
escapes, and an unforgettable bullfight, El Paso brings to life a
crucial moment in history and, in the process, becomes an indelible
portrait of the American Southwest in the final days of the wild
frontier.
