Mexico: Biography of Power
by Enrique Krauze
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Description
The concentration of power in the caudillo (leader) is as much a formative element of Mexican culture and politics as the historical legacy of the Aztec emperors, Cortez, the Spanish Crown, the Mother Church and the mixing of the Spanish and Indian population into a mestizo culture. Krauze shows how history becomes biography during the century of caudillos from the insurgent priests in 1810 to Porfirio and the Revolution in 1910. The Revolutionary era, ending in 1940, was dominated by the show more lives of seven presidents -- Madero, Zapata, Villa, Carranza, Obregon, Calles and Cardenas. Since 1940, the dominant power of the presidency has continued through years of boom and bust and crisis. A major question for the modern state, with today's president Zedillo, is whether that power can be decentralized, to end the cycles of history as biographies of power. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
From 1996 This up to date history of Mexican leadership. Excellent. I am working on video review now, at youtube/davidpeacockchannel -- i will update url when review is complete.
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Author Information
94+ Works 1,165 Members
Enrique Krauze was born in Mexico City, Mexico on September 16, 1947. He received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the UNAM and a doctorate in history from El Colegio de México. He is a documentary filmmaker, historian, and author. His works include a series of short biographies of Mexican leaders such as Emiliano Zapata, show more Francisco Villa and Porfirio Diaz, as well as the book Mexico: Biography of Power. He is the editor of a magazine called Letras Libres. He has written for several publications including the New York Times, The New Republic, Dissent, and The Washington Post. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1997
- People/Characters
- Lucas Alamán; Miguel Aleman Valdés; Manuel Ávila Camacho; Plutarcho Elias Calles; Lázaro Cárdenas; Venustiano Carranza (show all 27); Hernán Cortés (Hernando Cortes); Daniel Cosío Villegas; Porfirio Díaz; Gustavo Díaz Ordaz; Luis Echeverria Alvarez; Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla; Adolfo de la Huerta; Agustin de Iturbe; Benito Juárez; Vicente Lombardo Toledano; Francisco I. Madero; Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado; Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico; Alvaro Obregón; Adolfo Ruíz Cortines; Antonio López de Santa Anna; Sierro Justo; José Vasconcelos; Pancho Villa; Emiliano Zapata; Jose Maria Morelos
- Important places
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Important events
- Mexican Constitution of 1857; Mexican Constitution of 1917; Mexican Revolution
- Dedication
- For Isabel, León, and Daniel
- First words
- Preface -- "Jerusalem needs a psychoanalyst," the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai said to me one autumn in 1989, as we looked out a window of his home at one of the walls of that city.
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 972.04 — History & geography History of North America Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda First empire; Iturbide I; Pronunciamientos (1822-1845)
- LCC
- F1231.5 .K72 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America Latin America. Spanish America Mexico
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 337
- Popularity
- 93,378
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.10)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 3
