Synopses & Reviews
A study of the political development of the many factions that surfaced in Independent Mexico from the achievement of Independence in 1821 to General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's last government in 1853-55. Paying particular attention to the writings of the main thinkers of the period and the ways in which they inspired or were betrayed by their respective factions, this volume concentrates on the evolution of the different factions (traditionalists, moderates, radicals, and santanistas), who sustained their beliefs at one point or another. It favors a chronological approach and puts significant emphasis on the way the hopes of the 1820s degenerated into the despair of the 1840s, and how these in turn affected the evolution of the different factions' political proposals.
Review
"This is a complex and ambitious study that should be read by anyone who wishes to grapple with the politics of the epoch...Fowler cleans the slate of old generalities and the simplifications that appear in almost all text-books on the history of Mexico."Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos
Review
[T]he book will be useful to specialists. It also successfully makes the case for further research on ideological currents and parties in the period.Americas
Review
Fowler's book is ambitious and far-reaching, very helpful in clarifying strands of political thought in the first thirty years after Mexican independence. It is particularly insightful in its presentation of the impact of chronology and changing circumstances on political ideology.Timothy E. Anna University of Manitoba
Synopsis
This book is a study of the political development of the many factions that surfaced in Mexico from the achievement of independence in 1821 to General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's last government in 1853-55.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: Establishing the Parameters
The Traditionalist Proposals
The Proposals of Carlos Maria de Bustamante
The Proposals of the Moderate Factions
The Proposals of the Radical Factions
The Proposals of the Santanistas
Conclusion
Appendices
Selected Bibliography Index