El juez, el notario y el caudillo: Análisis de un juicio verbal en Tlaxcala durante la Revolución

Evelyne Sanchez's book El juez, el notario y el caudillo: Análisis de un juicio verbal en Tlaxcala durante la Revolución is a true microhistory. Like many historians before her, Sanchez examines mundane occurrences to shed light on larger historical patterns. Here, Sanchez explains the circumstances that shaped how a land dispute between two women unfolded in the Tlaxcala-Puebla region of central Mexico in the year 1916, amid the tumult of the Mexican Revolution (1910–20). Sanchez's story begins when Rafaela Hernández demanded that Mariana Vázquez vacate Rafaela's homestead, where Mariana had been living for two years with Rafaela's blessing. Meanwhile, Mariana had lent Rafaela 300 pesos a few years prior, for reasons that are not expounded in the written record (oral agreements were not uncommon in Tlaxcala, even as late as the revolution, Sanchez notes). Sanchez investigates how and why each actor involved in the dispute—including judges, notaries, local bosses, the...