First published in 1967, Wilkie’s study was awarded a well-deserved Bolton Prize as the best book in Latin American history for that year. More recently it has been the subject of a spirited exchange in the Latin American Research Review (Spring, 1970). The new edition (hardcover and paperback) is only minimally revised. No attempt was made to accommodate the methodological queries raised by Professors Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith in their review essay in the LARR nor the substantive issues raised by this reviewer (HAHR, XLVIII (1968), 509-511) and others in their initial critiques.
The revisions consist of the incorporation of new statistical data uncovered or made available since the first edition. These data (primarily statistics on land reform) result in a minor adjustment of the poverty index but occasion no revision of Wilkie’s original conclusions. If anything, they reinforce the provocative arguments posited there. The service performed by the second edition is thus less the incorporation of new information than the simple fact of making a valuable study widely available once again. Many of us engaged in the survey of Mexican history will want to consider the new paperback edition for classroom use.
