Synopses & Reviews
In this concise historical analysis of the Mexican Revolution, Gilbert M. Joseph and Janduuml;rgen Buchenau explore the revolutionand#39;s causes, dynamics, consequences, and legacies. They do so from varied perspectives, including those of campesinos and workers; politicians, artists, intellectuals, and students; women and men; the well-heeled, the dispossessed, and the multitude in the middle. In the process, they engage major questions about the revolution. How did the revolutionary process and its aftermath modernize the nationand#39;s economy and political system and transform the lives of ordinary Mexicans? Rather than conceiving the revolution as either the culminating popular struggle of Mexicoand#39;s history or the triumph of a new (not so revolutionary) state over the people, Joseph and Buchenau examine the textured process through which state and society shaped each other. The result is a lively history of Mexicoand#39;s andquot;long twentieth century,andquot; from Porfirio Dandiacute;azand#39;s modernizing dictatorship to the neoliberalism of the present day.
Review
andquot;When and to what degree did the epic Revolution go astray? Although the authors, two of the most eminent scholars of revolutionary Mexico, are not shy in expressing their own opinions, this dossier allows readers from undergraduates to expert initiates to judge for themselves. Gilbert M. Joseph and Janduuml;rgen Buchenau have given us a crisply written, comparatively informed survey of Mexican political history embracing nearly 150 years of both change and continuity, from Porfirian modernization to the first successful challenge to ruling party hegemony in 2000. If one were to read a single sweeping treatment of modern Mexico, this book might well be at the top of the list.andquot;andmdash;Eric Van Young, University of California, San Diego
Review
andquot;This comprehensive, highly readable history of the Mexican Revolution from its nineteenth century origins to the end of its institutionalization in 2000 folds acute analysis and the cogent scholarship of several generations of scholars into a fast-clipped narrative that sacrifices neither entertaining humor nor complexity. The first narrative of one of the twentieth century's most interesting and important political experiments is delightfully accessible to students and the general public alike.andquot;andmdash;Mary Kay Vaughan, coeditor of Sex in Revolution: Gender, Politics, and Power in Modern Mexico
Review
“Essential.” J. M. Rosenthal
Review
andldquo;Essential.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andquot;It is as synthesis that the text really succeeds, as a concise effort to bring a generation of scholarship on the Mexican Revolution into focus in a narrative that will satisfy the general reader and lower-division undergraduate students. Both constituencies will find this text a clearly written, up-to-date analysis of the processes that shaped the countryand#39;s twentieth century. Mexicoand#39;s Once and Future Revolution has no rival in the English language.andquot;
Review
andquot;Mexicoand#39;s Once and Future Revolution is compact, informative and accessible.andquot;and#160;
Review
andldquo;Gilbert Joseph and Janduuml;rgen Buchenau have provided an eloquent and highly readable obituary for this long and complex period in Mexican history, but one that reveals above all how the revolution has been kept on life support only by academics themselves. . . . As Joseph and Buchenauandrsquo;s brilliant and concise overview repeatedly demonstrates, the meaning of the revolution and how it was interpreted changed consistently throughout the 20th century andndash; and arguably still is, if only among historians who continue struggling to interpret this momentous process.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andldquo;This book will likely be a regular staple in upper division undergraduate and graduate classes on Modern Mexico for some time to come. Furthermore, the bibliographical essay that follows the book is superb and, for aspiring and veteran students of the Mexican Revolution alike, worthy of the price of the book alone.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Mexicoandrsquo;s Once and Future Revolution provides an excellent foundation upon which teachers can organize a course that addresses modem Mexicoandrsquo;s seminal event. While the authors appear to target a college audience, high school students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs will find it accessible and instructive. Since its authors address social and cultural as well as political topics, it will support a wide range of courses and assignments. Its scope, clear narrative, and balance will serve the needs of students well.andrdquo;
Synopsis
This volume offers a concise historical analysis of the Mexican Revolution, exploring its causes, dynamics, consequences, and legacies.
About the Author
Gilbert M. Joseph is the Farnam Professor of History and International Studies at Yale University. His many books include A Century of Revolution: Insurgent and Counterinsurgent Violence during Latin America's Long Cold War (with Greg Grandin), The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics (with Timothy J. Henderson), Fragments of a Golden
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1. Introduction: Revolution and the Negotiation of Rule in Modern Mexico 1
2. Porfirian Modernization and Its Costs 15
3. The Revolution Comes (and Goes), 1910and#8211;1913 37
4. The Violent Climax of the Revolution, 1913and#8211;1920 55
5. Forging and Contesting a New Nation, 1920and#8211;1932 87
6. Resurrecting and Incorporating the Revolution, 1932and#8211;1940 117
7. The andquot;Perfect Dictatorship,andquot; 1940and#8211;1968 141
8. The Embers of Revolution, 1968and#8211;2000 167
9. Conclusions: A Revolution with Legs 197
Notes 217
Bibliographical Essay 227
Index 239