Michael K. Bess's book examines an important, practical aspect of postrevolutionary nation building in Mexico. Creating a viable transportation network was crucial to vitalizing the Mexican economy following the years of revolutionary warfare that began in 1910. Using as examples the states of Nuevo León and Veracruz, Bess shows how highway construction projects involved complex interplay between the policies of the national government and the actions of local powers who exerted substantial influence over the building of roads in their particular locales.
Bess organizes the individual chapters according to Mexican presidential terms. The first two chapters analyze the roles of Álvaro Obregón (1920–24) and then Plutarco Elías Calles (1924–28) in creating roadbuilding programs out of the devastation of the revolutionary years. During these years, the cash-strapped national government shared a great deal of control over road construction with the state and local governments that helped mobilize capital and labor. Because...
