The Dark Side of the Dream is Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez's epic of immigration, war, labor organizing and the struggle for human rights by Mexican Americans.

To fulfill the dreams of their dying father, two brothers - Jose Luis and Francisco - set out with their young families to improve their futures in the surging economy of the U.S. during World War II. Jose Luis's family settles in an El Paso barrio to face the bitter reality of low wages and discrimination. Francisco becomes just another exploited farmworker in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

On this humble foundation, it is their children who build productive lives and participate in the grand process of not only transforming themselves but also the "nation of immigrants" as a whole. They stake their claims on the American Dream, proving themselves on European battlefields and later in advancing the struggle for civil and labor rights in factories, fields and schools.