This is the first of a projected four-volume series, edited and annotated by Diego Arenas Guzmán, devoted to reproducing the debates of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies from September, 1912, to the fall of President Madero.
This first volume contains the debates concerning the seating of representatives to the Chamber of Deputies whose elections were contested. Thus, the questions involved are, on the surface, political and legal ones, but they reflect the struggle of interests and the basic problems faced by the Revolution.
With two exceptions, for the sake of continuity, the material follows the chronology of the original debates. A comparison with the published Diario de los Debates indicates a careful, accurate job of editing with a minimum of comment by Arenas Guzmán. However, the reader might wish in some places that the speaker’s political affiliation were stated for this is not always immediately evident from the debates. Also, the addition of an index would increase the book’s usefulness for quick reference. These are minor criticisms, however, as are the presence of a few typographical mistakes and misplaced pages in Chapter XI.
While the primary value of the book is its accessibility as a source for these important debates, it is by no means dull reading; on the contrary, the debates impart the flavor of the revolutionary period, the emotionalism, and the confusion of ideas, and they show the developing political, economic, and social struggles.
