"In a masterful narrative, Eduardo Pagán details the legendary Pleasant Valley War in the Tonto Basin of Central Arizona in the late 1880s. Pagán’s microhistory employs Geertzian 'thick description' and a psychological analysis of the effects of incessant stress and trauma to explain how settlers became enveloped in constant cycles of violence that culminated in the Pleasant Valley War. The result is a convincing reinterpretation of an oft-told story, an exemplar of interdisciplinary history, and a compelling, page-turning read…Pagán’s microhistory of the Pleasant Valley War and his psychological analysis of how constant danger, stress, and trauma created a place where everyone left home armed, fearing attack at every corner, provides a model for scholars of western violence, indeed, for social historians as a whole. —Pacific HIstorical Review

“An elegant stylist and thoughtful historian, Pagán conveys the tragic drama of events in Pleasant Valley while at the same time offering a fresh perspective on frontier settlement.”—Tucson Public Library

“Pagán weaves a narrative so compelling, so driving that it demands to be read, every word. For scholars working in the history of trauma or the history of the West, Pagán’s book will serve as a model for how to reinterpret violence and western expansion and tell that history in a compelling way.” —Journal of Arizona History

"Pagán has written an interesting, comprehensive, and most compelling historical analysis of this famous feud...[He] adroitly draws from psychological studies, human geography, and social network analysis to focus on the nuances of social interaction in Pleasant Valley during this period of territorial history...[and] offers significant scholarly insight into the Pleasant Valley War." --Journal of American History

"Murder at Sleepy Lagoon does more than sharpen the edges of a well-worn story. . . . It also serves as a superb case study of the myriad factors that have influenced the course of race relations in the United States. . . . Pagán has constructed an impressive study of modern American race relations that should resonate beyond the fields of Los Angeles and Mexican American history."--Pacific Historical Review

“Smart, insightful and evocative.”--Australasian Journal of American Studies

"Pagán does a wonderful job of making the 1940s come alive, while providing the kind of research base that we would expect from any good social history. The book deserves a wide readership."--American Historical Review

"[A] masterful volume. . . . One of the most comprehensive and authoritative accounts of both the Sleepy Lagoon murder and the subsequent trials and of the Zoot Suits riots of the early 1940s. . . . Succeeds admirably."--Latin Americanist

"A fine addition to western and Chicana/o historiography. The varied and unique sources on which this book is based ensure that it will be a standard by which to judge any other studies on this subject."--Western Historical Quarterly

"A brilliant and ultimately persuasive effort to explain the function of music and fashion in shaping how Americans see themselves, then and now. . . . Pagán has made an important and illuminating contribution to [the] body of [Chicano] scholarship."--Los Angeles Times Book Review