A Short History of Mexico

by John Patrick McHenry

In this concise, readable account, the history of one of the Western Hemisphere's most important countries is recounted, from the first recorded appearance of early man around 10,000 B.C. down to the present day. Through the pages of this book move the men, famous and infamous, who have made Mexican history: Montezuma and Cortés; the Spanish viceroys whose downfall began when the priest Hidalgo issued his famous "Cry of Dolores"; the Emperor Agustin de Iturbide, first ruler of an independent Mexico; General Santa Anna, who fought and lost the Texas Revolution and the Mexican War; the ill-fated Emperor Maximilian and Benito Juárez, who overthrew him; Porfirio Díaz and Francisco Madero; Huerta, Pancho Villa, Carranza, and Zapata, who were involved in the troubles of the early decades of this century; and the presidents since 1920: among them, Obregón, Calles, Cárdenas, Alemán, and the present incumbent, Lopez Mateos.

Genres: Latin American History, Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Zella Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of information and interesting stories. The end was inspiring and thought provoking. I would say it's a good first read into the history of Mexico from its beginnings to 1960. It's nice reading about Mexico without mention of drugs.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Googled the title and read most of it on a flight to Mexico City. Written in the 60's, not much can be found about the writer online, but he was clearly a Catholic, somehow the Church and the clergy come out as major historical victims, some political leaders are presented from a very different viewpoint when looked up on Wikipedia. Readable though.

[Nick Hodge]

A great start, but then I left the book somewhere. Didn't get very much past the initial meeting of Cortés and the Aztecs. It was a good introduction to our visit to Teotihuacan.