This comprehensive two-volume history of the Mexican Revolution presents a new interpretation of one of the world's most important revolutions. While it reflects the many facets of this complex and far-reaching historical subject it emphasises its fundamentally local, popular and agrarian character and locates it within a more general comparative context.-- Publisher.
Alan Knight's comprehensive two-volume history of the Mexican Revolution presents a new interpretation of one of the world's most important revolutions. While it reflects the many facets of this complex and far-reaching historical subject it emphasises its fundamentally local, popular and agrarian character and locates it within a more general comparative context. Volume I analyses the Porfirian old regime - its politics and ideology and the patterns of socio-economic and, above all, agrarian change which the regime encouraged, within the dynamic context of global capitalism. it shows how these factors combined to produce the 1910 revolution, in which a resurgent urban liberalism joined in uneasy alliance with popular rebellion. Triumphant in 1911, the alliance collapsed in 1911-13, as the liberal experiment was undermined by popular revolt and finally terminated by counter-revolutionary coup. Volume 2 begins with the army counter-revolution of 1913, which ended the liberal experiment, installed military rule and gave renewed stimulus to revolutionary mobilisation, in which the forces of Villa and Zapata were prominent. Dr Knight recounts and analyses the major campaigns of 1913-14 and offers a fresh interpretation of the great schism of 1914-15, which divided the Revolution in its moment of victory, and which led to the final bout of civil war between the forces of Villa and Carranza. He considers the manner and significance of Carranza's ultimate triumph, and ponders the essential question: what had the Revolution changed?
Alan Knight's comprehensive two-volume history of the Mexican Revolution presents a new interpretation of one of the world's most important revolutions. While it reflects the many facets of this complex and far-reaching historical subject it emphasises its fundamentally local, popular and agrarian character and locates it within a more general comparative context. Volume I analyses the Porfirian old regime - its politics and ideology and the patterns of socio-economic and, above all, agrarian change which the regime encouraged, within the dynamic context of global capitalism. it shows how these factors combined to produce the 1910 revolution, in which a resurgent urban liberalism joined in uneasy alliance with popular rebellion. Triumphant in 1911, the alliance collapsed in 1911-13, as the liberal experiment was undermined by popular revolt and finally terminated by counter-revolutionary coup. Volume 2 begins with the army counter-revolution of 1913, which ended the liberal experiment, installed military rule and gave renewed stimulus to revolutionary mobilisation, in which the forces of Villa and Zapata were prominent. Dr Knight recounts and analyses the major campaigns of 1913-14 and offers a fresh interpretation of the great schism of 1914-15, which divided the Revolution in its moment of victory, and which led to the final bout of civil war between the forces of Villa and Carranza. He considers the manner and significance of Carranza's ultimate triumph, and ponders the essential question: what had the Revolution changed?
The Mexican Revolution was a 'great' revolution, decisive for Mexico, important within Latin America, and comparable to the other major revolutions of modern history. Alan Knight offers a succinct account of the period, from the initial uprising against Porfirio Diaz and the ensuing decade of civil war, to the enduring legacy of the Revolution.
In Bandits and Liberals, Rebels and Saints Alan Knight offers a distinct perspective on several overarching themes in Latin American history, spanning approximately two centuries, from 1800 to 2000. Knight's approach is ambitious and comparative--sometimes ranging beyond Latin America and combining relevant social theory with robust empirical detail. He tries to offer answers to big questions while challenging alternative answers and approaches, including several recently fashionable ones. While the individual essays and the book as a whole are roughly chronological, the approach is essentially thematic, with chapters devoted to major contentious themes in Latin American history across two centuries: the sociopolitical roots and impact of banditry; the character and evolution of liberalism; religious conflict; the divergent historical trajectories of Peru and Mexico; the nature of informal empire and internal colonialism; and the region's revolutionary history--viewed through the twin prisms of British perceptions and comparative global history.
A social and political history of Mexico's first political system after the Revolution that demonstrates the critical influence of regional socialist parties.
Volume 2 of The Mexican Revolution begins with the army counter-revolution of 1913, which ended Francisco Madero's liberal experiment and installed Victoriano Huerta's military rule. After the overthrow of the brutal Huerta, Venustiano Carranza came to the forefront, but his provisional government was opposed by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, who come powefully to life in Alan Knight's book. Knight offers a fresh interpretation of the great schism of 1914-15, which divided the revolution in its moment of victory, and which led to the final bout of civil war between the forces of Villa and Carranza. By the end of this brilliant study of a popular uprising that deteriorated into political self-seeking and vengeance, nearly all the leading players have been assassinated. In the closing pages, Alan Knight ponders the essential question: what had the revolution changed? His two-volume history, at once dramatic and scrupulously documented, goes against the grain of traditional assessments of the "last great revolution."
