Malcontents, Rebels, and Pronunciados: The Politics of Insurrection in Nineteenth-Century Mexico Available to Purchase

In 1989, Josefina Vázquez asked for studies on the nineteenth century because it constituted forgotten years in Mexican history. Even though there remains much to be done, some historians have taken up this call. Will Fowler figures prominently among them. He wrote several fine studies and edited more books on Mexican politics after independence. Malcontents, Rebels, and Pronunciados is his second edited volume on pronunciamientos, a phenomenon characteristic of Mexico’s nineteenth-century political history. These promulgations of political plans, supported by the threat of violence if grievances were not addressed by the authorities, frequently led to a change in politics or government. To be successful, the pronunciados needed to attract sufficient support. While the first volume edited by Fowler focused on the choreography of pronunciamientos, the present one deals with the question of why people pronounced against authorities or the established order. This is undoubtedly an important question but also...