Like other volumes in this series of publications, this work is diminutive in size and is directed toward the general reader rather than the specialist. Following an excellent introduction describing conditions under Díaz and the last stage of Porfirismo, the author presents fifteen biographical sketches of personalities who played vital roles throughout the various stages of the Mexican Revolution. Lamenting the limitation of space, the author writes that he is the first to recognize that others should have been included and that his selections must, therefore, be based on those who best “typify” the movement.
The biographical sketches are organized into six sections consisting of two precursors, Ricardo Flores Magón and Filomeno Mata; three representatives of Maderismo; the ideological contributions of Andrés Molina Enríquez and Luis Cabrera; Pascual Orozco, Pancho Villa, and Álvaro Obregón, as the three “men of arms”; the contributions of Emiliano Zapata and Lucio Blanco to “the social struggle” which probably reveal the author’s thinking; and the revolutionists in power as represented by Carranza, Calles, and Cárdenas.
Basing his biographical sketches on two standard published sources, the author sheds no new light on those personalities he has selected. Most of the fifteen biographies are very brief, ranging from two to five pages, the longest being an eight-page description of Cárdenas and his reform programs. These selections are generally sympathetic, most of which are more of a tribute than a study of those personalities. The treatment of Pancho Villa is especially eulogistic. However, the selections on Obregón and Calles are the exceptions and include their faults as well as their virtues.
In the seventh section of the work the author pays tribute to those whose greatness cannot be singled out and notes the important roles played by certain groups, namely the cavalrymen and the female soldaderas, in achieving the success of the revolution. In the final section, the author describes the “cultural renovation” taking place in Mexico as depicted in the novel, short story, and ballad.
