Enrique Krauze
1 Excellent Compilation of Historic Facts and Figures
An extraordinary book with pleasant (even funny) description. Compelling to the end!
2 Mexico's ying and yang
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 Yucat‡n) 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.
3 best Mexican history
This book was recommended to me by a Mexican political jounalist. Using the Big Man theory of history, which really applies to Mexico in spades, Krauze provides tremendous insights into the how and why of current Mexican national policy and felings through a well written biography of each of the important charaters in Mexican HIstory. Highly recommended.
4 Krauze is Krauze
I read this book in both English and Spanish. Although the latter seems to be more elaborate, the former is a must to try to understand a little bit of Mexican history
5 Excellent to fill in the gaps of the "official" history
Very good review of Mexican history following the leaders of the country since Independence. You can notice the effort to be impartial.
6 janeveber@cultura.com.br
hist—ria do mˇxico do per’odo colonial atˇ os dias atuais. por favor qualquer informa¨‹o mande para: janeveber@cultura.com.br obrigado.
7 The History of Mexico by the best Mexican historian today!
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.
8 A Superb Introduction
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.
9 Readable and Excellent history of leading Mexican figures
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.
10 long look at the people that made history in Mexico
It took me more than a year to finish it, but I was glad that I did. I learned a lot of Mexican history in an interesting way: by reading about the lives of the leaders, who were the ones pushing it along. Now I can return to Queretaro and understand how all those streets got their names! Curiously enough, there were two small towns mentioned in the book that I had the opportunity to visit this year, so it wasn't all dry history material. The book would be more helpful with a bibliography, or something to encourage further reading, even if the list contains books in Spanish.
11 Too Many Dots, Not Enough Lines
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.
12 Just the best approach to past and present mexican really!
Krauze is one of the top three in contemporary Mexican literature, so thats a garanty too! This book will tell you the presidential leadership, styles,their desicions, the time and whos and whats of the 20 th century in the Real Mexico. Krauze represent all of it just great. For the Mexican desendants living in the US, you can locate in time, Why your family enviorment inmigrate to the Norte. For any body interested in Mexico. Buy it, its real culture, not trival literature.
13 Amazing historic overview of the political life in Mexico.
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.
14 Ambitious - too ambitious!
Krauze writes a BIG BOOK, but even almost 900 pages can't really do justice to 500+ years of history, although the focus is from 1810 - 1996. 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.
Finally, if you know Spanish you'll realize that the English translation is fairly suspect in places.
15 Ambitious - too ambitious!
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.
16 Excellente overview of Mexico's power brokers
This book is both scholarly and entertaining to read. The profile of Mexico's past leaders are not just retreads for insighful observations that uncover little known facts aboutt these almost mythological figures. Great book for anyone interested in finding out how Mexico got to be what it is today.
17 G-R-E-A-T ! ! !
The emphasis and focus on history makes this book a MUST if one is interested to acquire knowledge of Mexican politics.
18 Deep understanding of Mexico's History
Krauze's book is insightful and full of anecdote. It will surely be the guideline to follow for years to come while dealing with the tough job of understanding a complex country.
