In reading this description, the reader will probably wonder, "Who is Rubén Osorio?", and "Who are the Férman and Quiñones families?" Good questions. Osorio is actually one of the top Villa scholars alive. his books have all been published in Spanish. What about Katz? - you might ask. Actually, Osorio participated in the same research and study effort that Katz was involved in, and Katz includes numerous references to Osorio in his notes. Katz's book is indeed thorough and long, but that does not mean that he covered all of the bases. What bases are there left to be covered, then, that are so important? Plenty, actually!

But this book only deals with one - the relation of Villa to the Férman and Quiñones families: the blood relation. You see, if you check the important biographies of Villa, you will find that there are a number of contradictions about his origins and early life. Why is that? Because authors did not actually research that factor. They only relied on the reports of an earlier era, which were all rather contradictory themselves.

One item found in the early accounts of Villa, written during his own lifetime, in some cases, was his statement that this Mr. Arango, his supposed father, was not his real father at all: that he was, in fact, the illegitimate son of a hacienda owner whose family name was reported to be "Gérman". Actually, Villa probably did not say "Gérman", which is a common first name (not family name) in Mexico - but since the pronunciation, especially with the "pelado" accent, would be close to identical, it was not very noticeable that he was referring to the "Férman" family, who were indeed the employers of his mother, Micaela Armábola. The person who was actually Villa's father was Luis Férman Gurrola, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Liechtenstein. "Funny, he doesn't look Jewish," - you are likely to say. But, you should see the picture of Villa's half-brother, who was reported by his children to have been a crypto-Jew - practicing Jewish rituals secretly in the attic.

Frida Kahlo was the daughter of a Jewish immigrant - Diego Rivera was half Jewish. Maybe that's why they were so attracted to Trotsky! Francisco I. Madero was part Jewish - so why not Villa?

If this book turns over the conventional wisdom, as I said, it is because the conventional wisdom is based on assumptions that were never examined. Osorio is the first historian to have ever examined Villa's origins in this much detail - the first to actually go find his baptismal and birth records, along with the marriage certificates of his parents, and other such details.