Bauer provides a detailed account of the politics surrounding the war and the battles that composed it. Note that this history is colored by the context in which it was written: the Vietnam War.

This is a well-researched and engaging history of the Mexican-American War and its implications for the Civil War, the figures involved, and the concept of Manifest Destiny.

Foos emphasizes the soldiers' perspective by utilizing primary sources such as letters and diaries. He examines their interaction with broader themes such as Manifest Destiny, which some interpreted for themselves by raiding, pillaging, and raping across the Mexican countryside.

Johannsen's book represents a rich cultural history of the place and the significance that the war occupied in the minds of Americans who were, for the most part, far removed from the conflict.

Potter's famous Civil War pre-history is tellingly commenced with the end of the Mexican-American War and the Wilmot Proviso that plunged the nation into years of sectional debate that erupted at various times and places—and ultimately in 1861—in outright bloodshed and secession.

This is a very comprehensive examination of American antebellum society, with special attention devoted to political, economic, and religious aspects, and a thorough (and critical) assessment of the road to the Mexican-American War and its supporters.