This work seeks to untangle the confusing forces comprising Freemasonry in Mexico during the first sixty years of this century. The author realizes his objective reasonably well, but in doing so may leave his non-masonic readers with the feeling that the effort he expended is considerably greater than the value of the theme. The leading merits of the book are three: because of his attachment to Freemasonry, the writer gives his work a verve that transcends the pedestrian subject matter. Second, because he writes with considerable skill, he is able to involve his reader through the manner of his presentation more than the nature of the contents. Third, he presents numerous personal observations, wry thoughts, and occasional insights on man and his institutions in the historical process, which, though a little obtrusive now and then, more often will induce reflection and agreement among colleagues.
The difficulty with the material is that the narrow range of the author’s sources and the insufficient extent to which he treats the important questions involving Mexican Freemasonry render it of secondary or tertiary importance. The contents largely concern the seemingly endless quarrel between the chief Spanish-speaking grand lodge and the English-speaking, American-dominated, and culturally imperialistic York rite grand lodge, both in Mexico City. If a lesson emerges, it is that the Masons spent a half-century of haggling in a maze of personalism, pretentiousness, circumlocution, and pseudostatism at the expense of their liberal tradition. What scholars would like to know is precisely how politically influential Mexican Freemasonry has been. Because of the sparseness, unrevealing quality, and almost entirely Masonic character of the author’s sources, he does not pin this down sufficiently. Equally valuable would be a thorough analysis of the social background of Masons. What motivated individuals to enter the fraternity? Why has not Masonry been able to broaden its base beyond the prosperous middle class? Why were the American Masons in Mexico at least, if not also the Mexicans, so uniformly politically and socially conservative? It may be that deficiency or inaccessibility of information precludes answering such questions, but if so the book could have been shortened by at least half.