Robert Payne, an English-born poet and journalist, juxtaposes his hundred pages of text with a similar number of Diek Davis’ full-page photographs of Mexico City and its immediate environs. The result is a warm impressionistic scenario of little tangible value to the scholar, but nevertheless a pleasant literary and visual experience.
The narrative begins with the Conquest, touches upon the colonial period, and then jumps inexplicably from “The Viceroys” to “Juárez and Maximilian.” With the execution of the Hapsburg emperor the chronological approach is abandoned for a topical presentation of subjects which interest the author and which lend themselves nicely to Dick Davis’ probing camera. The subjects range from the Basilica of Guadalupe (and the Juan Diego episode) to the new National Museum of Anthropology. The textual commentary, interspersing legend and lore freely with historical fact, advances no new theses. Most of the selections are sensitive and penetrating and can be enjoyed equally by those who have never visited the Mexican capital or those with many years of residence in the Valley of Anáhuac.
Few academicians will consent to pay $12.95 for this handsome volume. Many may like to receive it as a gift or as a review copy, thumb its pages at leisure, and place it alongside their favorite oversized volumes.
