This work is a fine addition to the body of literature that treats the history of Mexico’s most important natural resource. Petroleum has provided the economic base for Mexico’s industrial growth and remains the nation’s principal source of wealth. The author’s goal in writing this study is to foster a better understanding of the Mexican oil industry, especially in the period prior to its 1938 nationalization by Lázaro Cárdenas, which gave the state exclusive control over petroleum in all areas of production, processing, and distribution, both nationally and internationally. The study succeeds in meeting this objective by providing the reader with a focused examination of the activities of the two most important private enterprises of the oil industry prior to 1938, El Aguila and the Mexican Petroleum Company, and their respective heads, Englishman Weetman Pearson and American Edward L. Doheny.
As a foundation for constructing this narrative, the author relies...
