Although Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata are often the most recognized figures of the Mexican Revolution, Ricardo Flores Magón and the magonistas, the rebels he led, were seminal in sparking the 1910 social revolt. Bad Mexicans follows the magonistas from their early intellectual dissent to their final acts of rebellion through both the written word and armed struggle. Kelly Lytle Hernández argues that the magonistas’ activism to end dictatorship, redistribute land, and nationalize industries in Mexico challenged US imperial interests by jeopardizing investments south of the border. By examining the cross-border insurgency of the magonistas and the binational counterinsurgency campaign against them, Lytle Hernández positions the Mexican Revolution and the magonistas as central components in understanding the origins of US imperialism, border policing, and Mexican migration to the United States.
Bad Mexicans is divided into four sections. The first part describes the US investment in...
