"In the twenty-first century the violators of the United State-Mexico border are coming mostly from the south side of the international line, but historically the opposite was true when various groups formed north of the border to invade Mexico. They were called filibusters (derived from the Dutch vribuiter, meaning pirate or free booty), and the Mexican government took them seriously as a threat to the country's sovereignty.

Whether any plan to enter Mexico was carried out or whether the leaders were U.S. citizens was unimportant to the Mexican government. To Mexico the significance was that the groups recruited, organized, and plotted their entradas from the United States in full view of the U.S. government even as newspapers in both countries published dozens of articles about the endeavors.".

"Many names of the privateers will be familiar - William Walker and Henry Alexander Crabb, for instance. Others remain elusive, and they are the focus of this book."--BOOK JACKET.