Mexico: The Essentials

by William H. Beezley, Colin M. MacLachlan

The Essentials provides a concise introduction to Mexican history and culture built on ten fundamental aspects of Mexican life. Featuring a topical organization, the book offers readers easy access to these major themes--the "essentials"--that shape the nation and physical and living diversity, politics, family, economy, religion, Mexico City, popular arts, drugs and crimes, migration, and Mexico in global perspective. Authors William H. Beezley and Colin M. MacLachlan weave together each narrative with material from cultural investigations, ethnic and gender studies, and new sources--including visual and material evidence--to enrich and deepen students' understanding and appreciation of the Mexican past. Each of the essays is written from a historical perspective and begins with a brief section describing the colonial legacy.

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2015

About the author

William H. Beezley is a professor of history at the University of Arizona. He is the author and editor of dozens of books and articles, most notably Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico, and he is the editor-in-chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History.