Synopses & Reviews
In a Volume Hailed as "Masterful" (Washington Post) and "amazingly ambitious ... necessary reading" (New York Times Book Review), Enrique Krauze presents the definitive portrait of modern Mexico -- its religion, culture, politics, and more. In a country where the traditional concentration of power is in the caudillo or leader, Krauze's insights into the personalities of these figures become compelling insights into Mexico's history. The author begins with the late-nineteenth-century leaders like Porfirio Diaz, and moves through the Revolution and the agony of political unrest that continued through the 1940s. He then describes the development of the modern state and the contemporary period, from the presidencies of Camacho through Salinas. This paperback edition will include a postscript covering the presidency of Zedillo and the recent elections. Krauze believes a critical question for the future is whether the political system will continue to centralize power in the presidency, thus perpetuating Mexico's history as a biography of power.
"A stunning achievement". -- Daniel Bell
"A book worthy of Mexico's tumultuous history and vital to our understanding". -- Boston Globe
Synopsis
This major interpretive history of the making of modern Mexico, from the Insurgent priests of the early nineteenth century to the presidency of Zedillo, provides an incisive portrait of Mexican culture, society, and politics and key elements of Mexico's past.aThe legacy of the Aztec emperors, Cort s, the Spanish Crown, the mother Church, and the mixing of the Spanish and Indian population into a mestizo culture are key elements of Mexican history, as is the concentration of power in the person of the caudillo, or leader. History becomes biography, and the lives of the different caudillos are the historical tradition of Mexico. Santa Anna, Ju rez, and Porfirio D az are three central figures up to 1910, when D az, a monarch in republican clothing who had ruled the country since 1876, was engulfed by the Revolution and exiled to die in Paris. As always there was the threat and reality of the American presence from the north. The Revolution lasted ten years, and political unrest continued until 1940. There were nearly a million casualties during the Revolutionary era, and through the lives of the seven caudillos-Madero, Zapata, Villa, Carranza, Obreg n, Calles and C rdenas-the history of the period unfolds.aThe next part of the book deals with the evolution and development of the modern state from 1940 to 1970, beginning with an assessment of the Revolutionary period, then showing the formation of today's political system, and culminating in the tragic events of the 1968 student uprisings at Tlatelolco. As before, it is through the lives, personalities, and actions of various Presidents that history unfolds. The final section, on contemporary Mexico (1970-1996), is particularly valuable because there is little else available on this period and it addresses one of the major questions of Mexico's future: whether the political system can decentralize the concentration of power in the presidential office and end the cycles of history as biographies of power.
Synopsis
A History of Modern Mexico, 1810-1996
A magisterial history. . . . Will surely stand for many years as the standard history of postcolonial Mexico. -- Wall Street Journal
The concentration of power in the caudillo (leader) is as much a formative element of Mexican culture and politics as the historical legacy of the Aztec emperors, Cortez, the Spanish Crown, the Mother Church and the mixing of the Spanish and Indian population into a mestizo culture. Enrique Krauze shows how history becomes biography during the century of caudillos from the insurgent priests in 1810 to Porfirio and the Revolution in 1910. The Revolutionary era, ending in 1940, was dominated by the lives of seven presidents -- Madero, Zapata, Villa, Carranza, Obregon, Calles and Cardenas. Since 1940, the dominant power of the presidency has continued through years of boom and bust and crisis. A major question for the modern state, with today's president Zedillo, is whether that power can be decentralized, to end the cycles of history as biographies of power.
Synopsis
The concentration of power in the caudillo (leader) is as much a formative element of Mexican culture and politics as the historical legacy of the Aztec emperors, Cortez, the Spanish Crown, the Mother Church and the mixing of the Spanish and Indian population into a mestizo culture. Krauze shows how history becomes biography during the century of caudillos from the insurgent priests in 1810 to Porfirio and the Revolution in 1910. The Revolutionary era, ending in 1940, was dominated by the lives of seven presidents -- Madero, Zapata, Villa, Carranza, Obregon, Calles and Cardenas. Since 1940, the dominant power of the presidency has continued through years of boom and bust and crisis. A major question for the modern state, with today's president Zedillo, is whether that power can be decentralized, to end the cycles of history as biographies of power.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [799]-854) and index.
About the Author
Enrique Krauze is the author of twenty books, including Mexico: Biography of Power. He has written for The New York Times, The New Republic, Dissent magazine, The Washington Post, and The New York Review of Books. Krauze lives in Mexico City.