“Felix A. Sommerfeld And The Mexican Front In The Great War” focuses on a little known phase in relations between the United States and Mexico during which a second Mexican War came close to occurring. Between 1913 and 1916 Mexico was in the throes of a three-sided civil war. The United States was deeply involved in choosing and assisting the sides while German agents sought to exploit the unrest to distract the United States from the Great War in Europe and to divert American arms shipments from the Allied powers.

Felix A. Summerfield was a German naval intelligence agent who had the trust of American and Mexican interests which facilitated his operations as chief weapons and munitions buyer for Pancho Villa and Villa’s diplomatic envoy to the United States and undercover German operative.

Author Heribert von Feilitzsch has done extensive research into the activities of Summerfield and his accomplices in transferring money and munitions among the parties and the interactions among the various Mexican factions. He has found and compared bank records, sales accounts, government archives, newspaper reports, court documents, correspondence, among other sources to unearth an extensive German conspiracy to further entangle the United States in Mexican affairs.

For most Americans the characters of this book are either familiar, Woodrow Wilson and John J. Pershing, but their association with Mexico not within our ken, known by name only, Pancho Villa, or unheard of, Venustiano Carranza, Felix A. Summerfield, et al. The author helps by providing a Cast of Characters before commencing the text. Keep a bookmark by it for easy reference as you advance through the volume.

This work is attractive to readers with a variety of interests. It reveals much about political and military conditions in Mexico in 1913-1916 and its tumultuous relations with the United States. It provides insights into Woodrow Wilson’s policy-making process with regard to Mexico. Many readers will find names of familiar institutions, Olin Industries and Mississippi Valley Bank, in my case and personalities, J. P. Morgan for most, on these pages.

“Felix A. Sommerfeld And The Mexican Front In The Great War” has changed my view of the role of Mexico on America’s road to the Great War. I knew about Villa’s Columbus, New Mexico raid and the resulting Punitive Expedition in pursuit of him. I had read of the Zimmerman telegram offering German support to Mexico in a war with the United States and the peace to follow but regarded it as an absurd suggestion that the Mexicans recognized to be of no value. I now know that the situation was much more complex, that German initiatives went far beyond a telegram and that, although not a belligerent, there truly was a Mexican Front in the Great War.

I did receive a free copy of this book without an obligation to post a review. ( )