Mexico: From Montezuma to the Rise of the PAN

by Jaime Suchlicki

In this concise thousand-year history, one of the world’s foremost scholars on Latin America explains how Mexico’s present and future flow directly from its past. Going well beyond a comprehensive description of recent events and crises, Jaime Suchlicki provides an introduction to the country’s early native civilizations, its natural environment, the Spaniards’ harsh rule, independence and revolution, the long dominant Partido Revolucionario Institucional’s demise, and the complex and sometimes tumultuous relationship with the United States. Professor Suchlicki suggests seven major recurring patterns in Mexican history and convincingly describes their contribution to Mexico’s current and future difficulties. This new edition provides an analysis of recent social, economic, and political developments, including the hotly contested 2006 election, in which the electoral tribunal determined the presidency and Felipe Calderón became Mexico’s second consecutive president from the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN). Finally, Suchlicki also analyzes the current state of U.S.–Mexican relations on key issues such as immigration. Mexico is essential reading for anyone seeking an up-to-date perspective on America’s neighbor to the south.

Genres: History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Larkin Tackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This history of Mexico has been on my shelf for 20 years (literally) and I pulled it out before a family trip to Mexico City. There is so much of this history I either never knew (Mexico spent a few years during the US Civil War as a French colony run by an Austro-Hungarian Prince until his execution by Mexican leaders) or didn't fully understand (Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa's roles in the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century). Although now dated, the consistent themes of Mexico's history the author outlines still apply today:
1. Struggles between north and south, urban and rural, rich and poor, Mexico City, and the rest of the country
2. Attraction to, and rejection of, the US and its influence
3. Liberal and conservative swings in an autocratic political system
4. A major political role for the military
5. The Catholic Church versus the political system
6. Competition between the needs of difference races and ethnicities
7. A divided land: Mexico's natural environment

[Stuart Woolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I have read several books about Mexico. This one is short (200 pages) and satisfactory, but it is a little dated, published in the early years of Vicente Fox (nearly a quarter of a century ago). It is appropriate for a long travel day, a worthwhile read if you know little to nothing about Mexico.

This book does a fine job of describing the political vacillations of New Spain and the early republic. I liked the author's observation that Mexican independence was, in a sense, a conservative revolution, in the same way American independence was (oriented around the ascendancy of the local elite more than any meaningful reordering of society) and how the progression of both countries is rooted in an unfulfilled political promise. I also liked his nuanced assessment of the Reforma: the liberals sold the confiscated church lands to American speculators because the local Catholic nobility did not gravitate to such transactions, and this changed society in a number of ways. (The author implies the Catholic Church was a better feudal overlord to Mexico's poor and indigenous communities than the foreign capitalists were, but I think he could have explored this topic in more depth than he did.)

The book is less interesting after Cardenas, reading like a king's list of mediocre Mexican politicians. (The author is kind to Salinas, and I wonder if historians will take his side in the long run. For now, I think there is ample evidence that he and his family were crooks.) I would have liked a better balance of social and political history, to better understand the student uprisings in the 60s, but also violence in Chiapas (to say nothing of the drug cartels).

Note: I did not read the second-to-last chapter, about Mexican-Americans living in the United States, mostly because I was more interested in Mexico.

[Fabiola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for brief introduction of México, pretty interesting chapters about the relationship with the US. Still it lacked two big political and economic changes such as FOBAPROA and how we ended up with less 0’s in the mexican peso.

Easy and light book

[David M Blanchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good quick history but it seems dated as it was published in 1996. I really need a supplement to this that covers the last 30 years.

[Andrea Martinez · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author writes about the journey of Mexico in a manner that is so obviously biased towards the Spanish colonizers. He writes about the indigenous & mestizo people in a racist and demeaning way, often describing them as people who wished to be enslaved and converted to Christianity (pp. 26, 31, 46)

He fails to cite smallpox disease as the main reason for the Spanish subjugation of the native people, instead citing "genius and tenacity" in weaponry and military tactic (pp. 29). He also does not discuss at all the many indigenous rebellions that could not be quelled until the late 16th century, and describes mestizo & creole rebellions in the 19th century as unorganized "massacres" of the Spanish peninsulares (pp. 55) while describing the initial Spanish massacre of indigenous people as a "successful skirmish" (pp. 26).

As a personal injury to me, he describes Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, one of Mexico's most prolific writers and Latin America's first feminist, as "[reflecting] much of the artificiality and religiosity of the times" (pp. 39).

Not only is this book biased, but it seems morally incomprehensible that a distinguished scholar of Latin American history could write a history book that fails to accurately recount the complicated history of Mexico. This is simply a racist propaganda piece that looks down on a land & people with a complex but beautiful history.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and comprehensive history of Mexico. Yes, they're all here: Montezuma, Cortes, Santa Anna, Benito Juarez, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Vincente Fox, Cesar Chavez and Speedy Gonzales. There is also a useful chapter on the history of Mexicans in America. This work is a fine introduction to the subject, and even includes a reading list for further research, although a couple of maps showing the geography and the state boundaries would not have gone amiss.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief but you can do further research on your own for details... :D