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Mexico

A Concise Illustrated History

  • Textbook
Mexico cover

Mexico

A Concise Illustrated History

  • Textbook
Quantity
Pre-order. Available Feb 05 2026
$35.95 RRP $39.95 Website price saving $4.00 (10%)

Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available

This title is available for exam copy requests

Description

This accessible, sweeping survey of Mexican history, from pre-Columbian times to the present, introduces critical political and economic processes that have defined the country.

With ample maps and illustrations, along with historiographical inserts, this book is a guide from the earliest beginnings of a great nation down to the present day.

This second edition includes the following changes:
- Two additional chapters that cover the period of 2000 to 2025
- New content that thoroughly addresses cartels, criminal organizations, and drug war
- The latest pre-Columbian archaeological discoveries
- 10 new illustrations and 10 new inserts

To understand this complex and diverse land is to study the splendor of its pre-Columbian cultures, learn the legacies of a violent conquest, and appreciate the fluorescence of three centuries of viceregal Spanish rule. It does not shirk from addressing the darker side of history. Examining the corruption of presidents and the PRI party, it candidly identifies the roots of cartel-related violence. It introduces all of the major players: from Sor Juana to Benito Juárez, Moctezuma to AMLO, Cuauhtémoc to Lázaro Cárdenas, and Alemán to Zedillo. It answers the puzzling question: why is Mexico so poor when its powerful northern neighbor is so rich?

John W. Sherman delivers the essentials to understanding the country. The book's brevity and approach allow for instructors to match it up, unhindered, with their favorite social history books and material, and its easy-to-read and well-paced chapters will engage students. Readers come away with a rooted understanding of where Mexico has been and of contemporary Mexico as it really is.

Table of Contents

Preface
Note about the Cover Image

Part I: Ancient Civilizations
1. Great Pyramids in the Highlands
2. The Maya of Yucatán
3. Olmecs, Téenek, Aztecs
4. Conquests

Part II: Colonial Centuries
5. The Creation of New Spain
6. Mid-Colonial Economics
7. Glimpses of Colonial Society
8. Late Colonial Reform and Revolt

Part III: Independence and Modernity
9. The Insurmountable Divide
10. Showdown with the Americans
11. Juárez, War, and the French
12. Age of the Railroad

Part IV: The Age of Rebellion
13. Twilight of the Porfirians
14. The Season of Rebellions
15. Return of the Strong Arm
16. The Limits of Idealism

Part V: Structures of Power
17. Miguel Alemán – Legacy President
18. PRI-Eminence
19. Bombast, Boom, Bust
20. Crises and Control

Afterword
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Feb 05 2026
Format Paperback
Edition 2nd
Extent 304
ISBN 9798881804619
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

John W. Sherman

John W. Sherman is a Professor of History at Wrigh…

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