Caciquismo in Twentieth Century Mexico. ALAN KNIGHT and WIL PANSTERS (eds.), London: Institute for the Study of the Americas, 2005.

Abstract

Caciquismo in Twentieth Century Mexico gives the reader much to consider. With the goal of updating David Brading's edited volume, Caudillo and Peasant in the Mexican Revolution (1980), it sweeps through the century in multidisciplinary fashion, describing ejidal caciques, urban caciques, labor caciques, national caciques, Cristero caciques, institutionalized caciques, university caciques, and gatekeeper caciques. As is inevitable in a collective work, some authors address central issues more squarely than others and not all agree, but Knight's excellent introduction and Pansters's meticulous conclusion do a good job of drawing things together.