This monograph contributes significantly to the growing literatures on the Sierra de Puebla and the war of independence. Virginia Guedea provides a useful study of the insurgent movement in one region, revealing its political evolution and its geographic dimensions. The work details the tentative efforts of local insurgents to forge a new state while sustaining a guerrilla war and displays a deep understanding of the geographic context of the revolt. It also demonstrates how rebels exploited ties to Mexico City dissidents.
Guedea rehabilitates the insurgents of the Llanos de Apan, particularly José Osorno, who appears not as an anarchic social bandit but as a rebel with an alternative state project. She delves into insurgent documents to recreate the day-today affairs of the movement. From this material, Guedea demonstrates the rebel leadership’s efforts to create a new order even in the midst of vicious counterinsurgency warfare. Ignacio Rayón and Osorno relied...
