Synopses & Reviews
The Heart in the Glass Jar begins with one mans literal heart (that of a prominent statesman in mid-nineteenth-century Mexico) but is truly about the hearts, bodies, legal entanglements, and letters—as both symbols and material objects—of northern Mexicans from the 1860s through the 1930s.
William E. Frenchs innovative study of courtship practice and family formation examines love letters of everyday folk within the framework of literacy studies and explores how love letters functioned culturally and legally. French begins by situating love letters in the context of the legal system, which protected the moral order of families and communities and also perpetuated the gender order—the foundation of power structures in Mexican society. He then examines reading and writing practices in the communities that the letters came from: mining camps, villages, small towns, and the “passionate public sphere” that served as the wider social context for the love letters and crimes of passion. Finally, French considers “sentimental anatomy,” the eyes, hearts, souls, and wills of novios (men and women in courting relationships), that the letters gave voice to and helped bring into being.
In the tradition of Carlo Ginzburgs The Cheese and the Worms and Natalie Zemon Daviss The Return of Martin Guerre, French connects intimate lives to the broader cultural moment, providing a rich and complex cultural history from the intersection of love and law.
Review
and#8220;An insightful firsthand examination of Mexico from 2000 to the present. . . An important investigation of Mexico's recent political, economic and social pastand#8212;and its possibilities for the future.and#8221;and#8212;
Kirkus ReviewsReview
"A fascinating book that provides an original, well-documented perspective on modern Mexico."and#8212;A. Vergara, CHOICE
Review
and#8220;Alegreand#8217;s study fills a significant void. . . . An in-depth study of labor activism in the context of Mexicoand#8217;s Cold War experience is long overdue in the scholarly literature.and#8221;and#8212;Susan Gauss, associate professor at the University at Albany, SUNY, and author of Made in Mexico: Regions, Nation, and the State in the Rise of Mexican Industrialism, 1920sand#8211;1940s
Review
“Surprising, intriguing, and sophisticated. . . . This is masterful scholarship with an undercurrent of playfulness.”—William H. Beezley, coeditor of The Oxford History of Mexico
Review
“This is a deeply learned book, the mature work of a widely read, accomplished, and innovative historian.”—Ann S. Blum, author of Domestic Economies: Family, Work, and Welfare in Mexico City, 1884-1943
Review
“From money laundering to drug running, Holmes does a wonderful job explaining the vast criminal enterprise of the Mexican cartels.”—Fred Burton, vice president of Stratfor Global Intelligence and coauthor of Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi
Review
andquot;[Railroad Radicals in Cold War Mexico] is a long overdue addition to Mexican labor history.andquot;andmdash;Myrna Santiago, American Historical Review
Synopsis
An up-to-date portrait of Mexico since 2000, with new insights into the nation's problematic democracy and violent drug wars
Synopsis
An up-to-date portrait of Mexico since 2000, with new insights into the nation's problematic democracy and violent drug wars
In 2000, Mexico's long invincible Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost the presidential election to Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN). The ensuing changeover--after 71 years of PRI dominance--was hailed as the beginning of a new era of hope for Mexico. Yet the promises of the PAN victory were not consolidated. In this vivid account of Mexico's recent history, a journalist with extensive reporting experience investigates the nation's young democracy, its shortcomings and achievements, and why the PRI is favored to retake the presidency in 2012.
Jo Tuckman reports on the murky, terrifying world of Mexico's drug wars, the counterproductive government strategy, and the impact of U.S. policies. She describes the reluctance and inability of politicians to seriously tackle rampant corruption, environmental degradation, pervasive poverty, and acute inequality. To make matters worse, the influence of non-elected interest groups has grown and public trust in almost all institutions--including the Catholic church--is fading. The pressure valve once presented by emigration is also closing. Even so, there are positive signs: the critical media cannot be easily controlled, and small but determined citizen groups notch up significant, if partial, victories for accountability. While Mexico faces complex challenges that can often seem insurmountable, Tuckman concludes, the unflagging vitality and imagination of many in Mexico inspire hope for a better future.
Synopsis
In 2000, Mexico's long invincible Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost the presidential election to Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN). The ensuing changeoverand#8212;after 71 years of PRI dominanceand#8212;was hailed as the beginning of a new era of hope for Mexico. Yet the promises of the PAN victory were not consolidated. In this vivid account of Mexico's recent history, a journalist with extensive reporting experience investigates the nation's young democracy, its shortcomings and achievements, and why the PRI is favored to retake the presidency in 2012.
Jo Tuckman reports on the murky, terrifying world of Mexico's drug wars, the counterproductive government strategy, and the impact of U.S. policies. She describes the reluctance and inability of politicians to seriously tackle rampant corruption, environmental degradation, pervasive poverty, and acute inequality. To make matters worse, the influence of non-elected interest groups has grown and public trust in almost all institutionsand#8212;including the Catholic churchand#8212;is fading. The pressure valve once presented by emigration is also closing. Even so, there are positive signs: the critical media cannot be easily controlled, and small but determined citizen groups notch up significant, if partial, victories for accountability. While Mexico faces complex challenges that can often seem insurmountable, Tuckman concludes, the unflagging vitality and imagination of many in Mexico inspire hope for a better future.
Synopsis
Despite the Mexican governmentand#8217;s projected image of prosperity and modernity in the years following World War II, workers who felt that Mexicoand#8217;s progress had come at their expense became increasingly discontented. From 1948 to 1958, unelected and often corrupt officials of STFRM, the railroad workersand#8217; union, collaborated with the ruling Institutionalized Revolutionary Party (PRI) to freeze wages for the rank and file. In response, members of STFRM staged a series of labor strikes in 1958 and 1959 that inspired a nationwide working-class movement. The Mexican army crushed the last strike on March 26, 1959, and union members discovered that in the context of the Cold War, exercising their constitutional right to organize and strike appeared radical, even subversive.
Railroad Radicals in Cold War Mexico examines a pivotal moment in postand#8211;World War II Mexican history. The railroad movement reflected the contested process of postwar modernization, which began with workers demanding higher wages at the end of World War II and culminated in the railway strikes of the 1950s, a bold challenge to PRI rule. In addition, Robert F. Alegre gives the wives of the railroad workers a narrative place in this history by incorporating issues of gender identity in his analysis.
Synopsis
Organized Crime in Mexico takes a hard look at the dire implications of the pervasive and powerful criminal enterprises in northern Mexico, comparing and contrasting the present threat to past issues, including drug and human smuggling during the latter half of the twentieth century. Criminal organizations operating in Mexico and the United States threaten the economic well-being of North America as well as the democratic freedoms of our neighbor to the south. Cameron H. Holmes, an experienced organized-crime prosecutor and anti-money laundering expert, shows how this shift in criminal activity is extremely damaging to North American economies and explains that in order to halt this economic erosion, U.S. policy requires a new strategy, changes in thinking, and new and increased countermeasures.
Strategically, we have light-years to travel and little time to do it. Without intervention criminal activity will strangle legitimate business, degrade the Mexican economy, and, because the United States itself is so intimately affected, undermine the U.S. economy in turn. Continued prosperity in both countries depends on our joint success in controlling these criminal enterprises. Organized Crime in Mexico examines the new diversification and strategies of organized criminal groups, suggests a series of countermeasures, and places these issues in a global context. What is transpiring in Mexico is part of a larger international problem, and criminal enterprises currently pose new and consistent threats to economies around the world.
About the Author
Robert F. Alegre is an assistant professor of history and affiliated faculty in the Womenand#8217;s and Gender Studies Program at the University of New England. His work has been published in the Journal of Womenand#8217;s History, Labour/Le Travail, and Reviews in History. Elena Poniatowska received a lifetime achievement award from the International Womenand#8217;s Media Foundation and is the first woman to win Mexicoand#8217;s National Journalism Prize.