Mexico: Biography of Power [Paperback]

Enrique Krauze (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 1998

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Krauze is a well-known Mexican literary and historical author who has worked with and written for the important Mexican magazine Vuelta since its inception. His well-translated work, originally published in Mexico as three separate volumes, offers a readable history of the country since independence in 1810. Krauze first identifies themes that permeate Mexican history, e.g., the concentration of power, the role of the church, and the importance of history to Mexicans, which he then elaborates on by relaying the history of Mexico through the biography of its leaders, primarily presidents. As a result, he offers rewarding insight into how Mexicans see their own history. A useful volume that will be of value to academic libraries and public libraries with an interest in Latin America.?Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Krauze offers a unique perspective of modern Mexico by interweaving the biographies of a number of consequential nineteenth-and twentieth-century leaders into a cohesive historical overview of the Mexican nation. Rooted in both Indian and Spanish cultures, the notion of the caudilloa leader granted an inordinate measure of respect and control--is one of the most pervasive elements and formative themes in Mexican custom and tradition. Arguing that these leaders have both reflected and influenced the shape and the direction of Mexican history, the author provides detailed accounts of the personal and professional lives of a variety of individual caudillos. An insightful examination of how this unbroken cycle of power has played a decisive role in the political and social history of Mexico. Margaret Flanagan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 896 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (June 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060929170
• ISBN-13: 978-0060929176
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > History > Americas > Mexico

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mexico's ying and yang, April 27, 2004

By 

Antonio (Bogotá, Colombia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mexico: Biography of Power (Paperback)

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.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History of Mexico by the best Mexican historian today!, July 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mexico: Biography of Power (Paperback)

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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Introduction, March 11, 1999

By 

Carlos Mejia ([e-mail]) (Mexico City, Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexico: Biogaphy of Power (Hardcover)

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.