Customer Reviews

Mexico: Biogaphy of Power

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I have to confess I haven't read the English version of this book. But if it's anywhere as good as the 3-volume Spanish version, it is probably excellent.

Mexico, particularly in Latin America, is a mythical country. It has always had a vibrant popular culture. In Colombia, it used to be said that the upper class aspired to be English, the middle class wanted to be American, and the lower class wished to be Mexican. This is no slight on Mexico, just a statement of its powerful pull over others. Amazingly, such an important country has never had such a strong historiography as much smaller ones, like Cuba. This has many reasons, one of them being that the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), probably the most effective political party in history, was able to co-opt most intellectuals either with favors or intimidation.

Therefore, much Mexican history used to revel in a hagiographical version of its pre-Columbian splendor and to celebrate politically correct milestones, such as Hidalgo's cry, Juarez's victory over Maximilian or the 1911 revolution, while glossing over other important but more embarrasing episodes, such as Iturbide's empire, Santa Anna's 30 year reign that led to the less of the Northern half of the country to the US, Maximilian's closeness to Indian land rights (Indians in Mexico were never better treated than under Maximilian), the remarkably efficient Porfiriato (a 35 year-long dictatorship), or the extremely brutal aftermath of the revolution. This promoted a mythological self-view of Mexico that paved the ground for the economic catastrophe of Lopez Portillo and the political catastrophe of Salinas de Gortari.

For anyone interested in looking behind the cobwebs of official history and popular culture, Krauze is a Godsend. In his work one can view the greater trends of Mexican history, and understand how a country may be both statist and hospitable to private business, officially anti-clerical but deeply religious, often in unorthodox ways, extremely violent but highly cultured, with an often radical foreign policy that belied a very conservative political culture.

As a Colombian I was very surprised at the conservative failure to win power from the 1870s to current President Fox (in Colombia the conservatives have run the country for well over half of its existence). One, of course, has to see the origin of this in the alleged betrayal of the conservatives who supported Maximilian's empire, even though Maximilian himself wasn't conservative at all. And Mexico's complex attitude to religion can be traced to such ambivalent figures as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (a nun-poet who was deeply critical of male domination in the Church) and Father Hidalgo (a revolutionary priest who is one of Mexico's Founding Fathers, who was close to freemasons and loved to indulge in forbidden readings and female companionship).

Mexico's strong nationalism is of course fueled by its closeness to the most powerful country in the world. Like Porfirio Diaz said, "We are so far away from God, and so close to the Americans". Also Mexico's Indian pride (maybe no country other than Paraguay, where dictator Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia forced whites and indians to marry, has a better tradition of metissage, although the rights of actual indians have historically been disregarded: cf. the Zapatistas in Yucatán) did not prevent it from receiving the greater part of Republican Spanish emigration after the Civil War.

So, Mexico is a complex country, perhaps more than most. It is also, after Argentina's self-combustion, the only Hispanic-American country to have a shot at the first world. Harvard's Huntington has decried Mexican influence in the US, and has even hinted that Mexico could use its presence throughout the South Western US to reclaim its former territories. That is highly unlikely. Mexico is fully aware that it has to live and work with its powerful northern neighbor (although that's not inconsistent with an official nationalist policy, for popular consumption). But these fears indicate that all North Americans should be interested in Mexico. And Krauze is a great place to start. Americans, in particular, do worse than to know more about their great southern neighbor.

If you know nothing about Mexican history and don't know where to begin, this is THE book to read. Mind you, it's a little too long but you won't be disappointed. It's very well written, it's fun, it's insightful, and has a no nonsense approach one appreciates after reading tons of biased harangues on the subject, both pro and con.

A MUST for any American, Mexican or Mexican-American who wants to learn about a country so often misunderstood by contempt, demagoguery, prejudice or simple plain ignorance.

Enrique Krauze has produced a superb introduction to Mexican history. His appraisals of various Mexican leaders are shrewd and always fair. However, the book suffers from two annoying shortcomings. First, the chapters are sometimes haphazardly organized and Krauze is not always successful at weaving the historical context into his biographical tapestry. Second, the fifth and final part (the last 59 pages) is superificial compared to the previous four parts; the book as a whole suffers as a result. Nonetheless, Krauze and his translator, Hank Heifetz, have created a vivid narrative that skillfully explicates the problems and complexities of Mexico's history within the covers of a single, albeit substantial, volume.

This is required reading for anyone who wants to understand modern Mexico and the (gradually improving) mess that it is in.

The book, a hefty 800 pages, is a combined English volume of three separate books by Enrique Krauze published in Spanish.

The translation by Hank Heifetz is superlative.

After touching on pre-1810 Mexican history, the book gets down to business after the Spanish have been tossed out on their collective keisters in that year.

We see the independent nation's early confusion as it lurched about for a few decades under inept leaders like its first "emperor," a joke named Iturbide, and then silly Santa Anna who bounced in and out of the presidential chair countless times, losing much of the nation's acreage to the better-organized and focused Americans. National Darwinism at work.

Benito Juarez was the first serious leader. And then the French tried to take over in the form of Emperor Max and his nutty wife, Carlota. That did not last long, thanks in great part to Juarez.

Finally, rising from the smoke and ashes, Porfirio Diaz brought some order and advancement to the nation for 30 years until his despotism too was shown the door, bringing on the Revolution in 1910. Diaz made it to Europe with his skin intact, but he died five years later.

The dates of the Mexican Revolution are not set in cement, depends on whom you ask. Nobody ever raised their fist, shot a Mauser shell into the clouds, and declared it done with.

Krauze sees it lasting longer than most observers, putting the end date around 1940. You could make an argument that it really did not end until 2000 when Democracy finally bloomed with the open election of President Fox of the longtime opposition party known as the PAN.

The book looks at Mexican history through the life stories of its leaders, and Krauze portrays them excellently and interestingly.

Many were thugs. Many, especially in the 20th century, were well-educated and cultured. Many were well-educated, cultured thugs. Some were sincere. Some where not. All were fascinating.

Great history. Reads like an adventure novel, but it's real.

Krauze writes a BIG BOOK, but even almost 900 pages can't really do justice to 500+ years of history. The concept is interesting. Mexico has, perhaps more than any other country, been influenced by the personalities and individual traits of its leaders. Therefore, this book looks at the leaders' backgrounds, upbringing, fortunes and misfortunes, and attempts to draw a comparison between events in their formative period and how they effected their rule, all done in "biographical style". Well, OK. But this may be taking amateur psychology a little far. A very frustrating part of the book is the Revolution. Given the number of rulers during this time period, a biography of any one of them naturally has to include reference to 3 or 4 others. However, as these 3 or 4 others have not had their biographies told yet in the book, then reference to them is confusing to say the least. Unless you're already an expert in Mexican history, this book is quite confusing and realy needs to be read twice. The biography format, however, makes histroy far more fun to read.

I am moving to Mexico City next year to live and work for two years, with NO previous background on Latin America or Mexico. This book delivers a solid overview of modern Mexican history without being as dry as your average textbook. I greatly enjoyed Krauze's approach of presenting Mexican history through mini biographies of it leaders for the last two hundred years. You feel like you are reading a series of related essays, which helps in making your way through a book of this size (700+). This book helped me realize how fascinating and rich Mexico and its history are. It takes you up to about 1995, so you'll need something else to bring you up to present day (such as "Opening Mexico").

Portions of this book are fascinating. But there's a problem -- too many portions. The historical timeline is supposed to connect all these "dots" that cover hundreds of years and numerous social movements. As you near the 20th century, you realize too much is in this work -- people, years, personal biographies. It's a good era-related reference or outline. But tackling this book from cover-to-cover is a difficult, concentrated task -- where earlier chapters receive little allusion, and the brief historical bio's get awfully monotonous.

I'm a math teacher in a school that is 45% Hispanic. My kids good naturedly taunt me with "you took our land". We "pushed on" that one day and it turns out none of us knew much about Mexico. I stopped at a book store on the way home and found this to be the only offering on Mexico's history. I lucked out. It turns out I now know more about Mexico's history that my students. I'm near pg 180 but left the book in my classroom and we're on winter break. Several of my students have asked to read the book when I'm done. So, I'm here killing two birds with one stone: I'll get a copy to read over break (I marked my copy up) and I'll have one to loan out after break.

It's a fascinating book, very well written, covering the history of Mexico from Cortez until 1996 and making frequent references to pre-Columbian Mexico along the way. Having read as far as I have I'm thinking I'll need book(s) on Central and S.America when I'm done with this. It's terrific. I highly recommend this book.

Using biographies of Mexican leaders, the author takes us from pre-independence Mexico to today. It offers a real insight into Mexican politics and the problems the current administration faces. Surprisingly readable for an "academic" book.

In this book, the author approaches in a realistic, balanced and objective manner, the way mexican politics developed since the independence of Mexico. It gives a good insight of the way the mexican culture shaped the ways and manners of the political system of this complex country. This is almost an analysis of the psyche of the mexican people and how it affected the power relationships among them. Undoubtely a fascinating book and a "must read" for those interested in learning more about Mexico and the mexicans.