Description: This concise history looks at Mexico from political, economic, and cultural perspectives, portraying Mexico's struggle to break out of the colonial past and assert its viability as a sovereign state in a competitive world. In this third edition, Hamnett adds new material on Mexico's regional and international roles as they have emerged in the twenty-first century, including membership of supra-national organizations (including and moving beyond NAFTA), the Mexican drug war between government officials and gangs, and the immigration and border crises within the United States. He also discusses Mexico's relationship to the outside world, particularly its efforts to broaden the range of political and commercial associations, especially with European countries, the rest of Latin America, and the Pacific Rim through trade agreements with supra-national organizations.
Brief description: Brian R. Hamnett is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of History at the University of Essex. He has traveled and researched widely in Latin America, and in Spain and Portugal. His most recent book is The End of Iberian Rule on the American Continent, 1770-1830 (Cambridge, forthcoming).
Review Quotes: 'Hamnett's remains, by far, the best one-volume history of Mexico in English. Erudite, elegant, and free of commonplaces and stereotypes, it is structured around a non-conventional periodization, masterfully weaving politics, economics, and foreign relations, while also revealing a keen understanding of culture, religion, and regional experiences.' Pablo Mijangos, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE, Mexico)