After half a dozen pages of background on the época porfiriana, the author undertakes an analytical and chronological essay of the “socio-political phenomenon of vigorous historical projection” which “has had indisputable significance in the national life” and which is known as the Mexican Revolution. It is his purpose to present the results of his readings and meditations on the “antecedents of the present social, economic, and political physiognomy” of his country.
The chronological account is fairly straightforward. As far as the serious student of Mexican history is concerned, there is no new material provided. Indeed, the documentary excerpts and other quoted material are drawn from standard sources, as the author relies heavily on Barragán Rodríguez, Blanco Moheno, Fabela, González Ramírez, Romero Flores, and Vera Estañol among others.
While the revolutionary era through the drafting of the Constitution of 1917 is covered with reasonable detail and completeness, excepting the precursory movements, the coverage becomes thinner and thinner as more recent decades are summarized. Two-thirds of the volume’s two hundred and twenty pages are devoted to the initial period, leaving a scant seventy pages for four succeeding decades.
However, criticism relative to nature of sources, balance, and selectivity may seem inappropriate in the evaluation of a work presented as an “essay.” Scattered throughout the volume are the writer’s comments and observations. Almost without exception his viewpoint is a revolutionary one and within that framework he tends to side with the revolutionary element which emerged triumphant in any given situation.
The author’s comments are usually in accord with generally accepted interpretations, although at times his explanations are overly simplified. His view of the historical revolution is quite traditional. His view of the recent past is couched in the lexicon of the “official party” and reduces to an abbreviated catalogue of achievements. Neither provides much new insight for the informed reader.
