Mexico Book Reviews Samples For Students

The four articles summarized and discussed in this annotated bibliography were selected because they deal with some of the civilizations of the first Americans, the Aztecs in particular. There always seems to be a lot of information and research into Western and pre-Western archaeology and anthropology, such as studies about Celtic, Roman, and Egyptian culture and mythology, but less about pre-Columbian America. All four of these articles were selected from peer-reviewed journals. Journals were selected instead of a book because it seemed like the best way to get a general idea about some very diverse topics regarding the Aztecs. Topics for three ...

Guadalupe in New York, by Alyshia Galvez, is a look inside the lives, culture, and faith of Mexican immigrants in the urban United States. The book is a collection of stories, histories, and information about the lives of Mexican Immigrants trying to make a living for themselves in the land of opportunity. Galvez describes how these immigrants find themselves living a difficult and fearful life, working long hours for low paying jobs, and in constant fear that they will be discovered as illegal immigrants. This book touches on a wide variety of subjects including immigration, Mexican-American culture, religion, and the American dream.

The author ...

The Other Struggle for Equal Schools

The book The Other Struggle for Equal Schools: Mexican Americans during the Civil Rights Era by Ruben Donato provides a additional source to a rather scanty amount of literature available dedicated for the understanding of the educational experiences of racial and ethnic minorities such as the Mexican Americans. The title itself is a strong point that is meant to emphasize the idea that prejudice and desegregation are not only limited to that of the African Americans but also extends to the Mexican Americans. Donato used the historical experiences of the African Americans as his point of comparison in establishing how the Chicanos in ...

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Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States. 2008.
The text finds its basis in the Mexican-American War of 1846. While Henderson attempts to explain the war from the views of Mexico, he gives his views regarding the United States as well. Written over a period of one year, “A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States” is derived from a series of secondary resources from which the author draws information. Henderson combines said information in a meticulous way leaving no ...

Robert W. Merry's "A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, The Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent."
Robert Merry’s book is a firm but fair appraisal of James Polk’s much maligned Presidency where the Mexican American war occurred and where the United States managed to expand its territory quite vastly. The overarching theme of the book is the misinterpretation of James Polk as a President who perhaps was heavy handed in his tactics but managed to secure considerable expansion for the United States.
In the book, Merry describes Polk as a one term President ...

ABSTRACT

Karl Jack Bauer’s The Mexican War (1974) does describe the United States as the aggressor in the conflict and concedes that President James K. Polk was motivated by the desire to expand the borders to the Pacific. Indeed, there was never any real question about this in either the U.S. or Mexico at that time—or later. He justifies this action by asserting that that this type of expansion was inevitable, and if it had not been carried out by Polk’s administration then some other one would have done it eventually. Although the U.S. president preferred to ...

Introduction

Humans react differently when presented with the problem of environmental degradation. There are those who are conservationists while other are just after reaping as much as they can from the environment regardless of the degradation that may take place. Environmental History of Latin America and Defending the land of the Jaguars both handle situations on how human beings react to the problems of environment conservation. This paper analyses the opinions provided by the two authors of the books on the reactions of humans to the problem of environmental conservation.

Environmental History of Latin America

This book generally gives a representation of the fatal historical competition ...

Introduction:

Politics and leadership have always been important parts of the world’s historical makeup and these will definitely never go away. Obviously one has to keep in mind that times change and the sort of leadership that was right and correct for the 19th century is probably anathema today. In his seminal book, Carnes Lord attempts to examine various world leaders who have made a name for themselves, be it as autocrats, as visionaries or as plain and simple democratic leaders. He also inserts an interesting but heavy dose on the politics of the renowned Florentine, Machiavelli whose ‘The Prince’ ...

Book Report on Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and Hard Times of a New Mexico Mountain Range

Introduction
A lot of things have happened over Northern New Mexico and its Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Mexicans at that time basically called it home even though there were a lot of changes about the mountains that they witnessed. This paper tackles the main themes presented by the book “Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and hard times of a New Mexico Mountain Range”. The book was divided into two. The first book discusses the changing character of New Mexico together, focusing on the three major cultures which were a significant part of its history: The Hispanic, Anglo and the Native American ...

In Ellen Baker's book On Strike and On Film: Mexican American Families and Blacklisted Filmmakers in Cold War America, the author discusses attributes of racial and gender inequality that existed within the 1950s, as well as leftist attempts to combat these developments. During the 1951 miner's strike of Hanover, New Mexico, union leaders collaborated between blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers to create a film called Salt of the Earth, a controversial yet highly effective film that provided a filmic representation of leftist desire and calls for equality, for both women and minorities. Baker provides a detailed account of the circumstances leading up to the creation ...

BOOK BY GABRIELA F. ARREDONDO. MEXICAN CHICAGO: RACE, IDENTITY, AND NATION, 1916-39

The phenomenon of the Mexican society in Chicago has been an object of interest for many years. This issue has been examined in details and in general in order to draw the conclusion if the importance and influence of the Mexicans on the social and cultural life. However, the scholars have not published their findings for the audience’s access. Therefore, the book ‘Mexican Chicago’ written by Gabriela F. Arredondo is the first attempt to demonstrate the Mexicans experience within the American society and their cooperation. The ...

Central Part of Mexican National Identity

Mexican identity was shaped during the 19th century not by the elite in the society but the ordinary people who were limited in both social and economic resources. Even after independence in 1821, there were persistent issues of political instability, military uprising and foreign invasions that led to social problems among the citizens. As Gillingham puts it, the village benefitted from Cuauhtémoc bones through economic progression that led to major development programs and achievement of political prominence. Cuauhtémoc was a symbol for the elites before it decided to embrace the lives of the ordinary people, thereby, leading ...

Summary of the Book Tejanos&Texas under the Mexican Flag 1821-1836 by Andres Tijerina

Introduction
The publication of the book Tejanos& Texas came in the backdrop of the lack historical data regarding the invasion of the Anglo-American’s military, their political and economic espionage of the during Mexican flag. After 1836, the Anglo-American invaded the Mexican lands. Therefore, this book gives credible details of the lives of Americans after they had exerted their dominion over the Mexicans beyond 1836. Principally, this book gives historically rich information regarding the social cultural and political exchanges that occurred during these critical years of the war, and invasion of the Anglo-America into Mexico. Andres Tijerina, in this ...

Book Review. Sor Juana by Octavio Paz.

Octavio Paz, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden,
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988.
547 pp. ISBN o-674-82105-X (alk. paper)
Sor Juana or The Traps of Faith is the comprehensive research on the life and work of Sor Juana, a prominent Mexican poet of the seventeenth century, as well as it is a historical, sociological and cultural account of New Spain and the evolution of the mentality of Mexican people in the times the viceroyalty. This book is an attempt to depict the realities of the seventeenth century and ...

Many have rated the book Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness In The West (1985) as an artwork in American literature and even as Cormac McCarthy continues to publish books it has remained to be his masterpiece.
Blood Meridian is regarded as one of McCarthy’s best writing as it is a multilayered and complex reexamination of the American West mythology. Blood Meridian is defined as a historical novel as it adds in events that are documented chronicling the gang of Glanton who are hunters between the years of 1849-1850 before evolving to a band of ragged villains who murder and ...

Crossing the border has metaphorically demonstrated the determination one can develop for a better future. Ann Jaramillo uses her ground-breaking novel, La Linea to talk about the life of a boy named Miguel who lived in San Jacinto, Mexico with his grandmother and thirteen year old sister Elena. At a young age, Miguel’s parents left Mexico to cross the US border for a brighter future for their children. Ever since his parents left Mexico it has been Miguel’s dream to cross the border and unify with them. Addendum to this dream, he also sees himself as a rich man playing soccer for ...

“The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope,” written by the famous journalist Claudia Kolker after inspired from her immigrant friends in the United States is one of the unique literary works. The book gives a description of various traditions and customs followed by the immigrants and their families dwelling in the United States. Most of the customs followed by the immigrants are unknown to several Americans; however, Kolker feels that the traditions of the immigrants make the Americans understand the reason for happiness and health of the immigrants and their families, ...

Introduction

In his famous autobiographical book the Hunger of Memory: the Education of Richard Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez, a renowned public speaker and author expertly illustrates his personal experiences of emotional disconnect and societal alienation. He explores how this has had a tremendous influence on his life from his childhood as a first generation Mexican-American boy.
The main thesis or theme of the book form the author’s point of view is that the society together with the education system in general requires a radical revision for it to be able to produce people who do not have alienation from life like the he ...

1.
In Translated Woman: the person being studied is a woman named Esperanza, a street-peddler who lives in Mexico. Unlike most ethnographic studies, the author does not focus as much on an entire population as she does on one person. However, the relationship between the sample and the population (the whole of Mexico) is made clear in several respects. It is implied that much of Esperanza's story, both as a woman and as a poor person in Mexico, is indicative of the whole of the Mexican experience. In the final chapter of the book, Behar herself is studied as an ethnographic figure, ...

Introduction

The book A Line in the Sand was written by James Olson and Randy Roberts. The title of the book depicts a war or battle through the wording of “in blood”. Meanwhile, the wording “and memory” suggests the remembrance of the battle in the minds of people. The book tries to address the causes of the battle in Alamo and the significance of the events that occurred afterwards in the minds of people. It starts its tale from early March 1836 where a Mexican army goes to a mission called the Alamo under the leadership of General Antonio Lopez. ...

The Immigrant Advantage: What Rest of America can learn from the fresh Immigrants.'

Cultures for Longer and Happier lives
Inspired by her culturally diverse life in Houston, award winning journalist and author Claudia Kolker investigates the attitudes and traditions towards education, hard work and health that have been imported into the United States by immigrants from different nations. She addresses the fact that natives to the United States have so much to learn from foreigners and that they should not be viewed form only an outsider point of view but should instead be embraced for the diversity they introduce to America. She argues that it is meaningless to fuss over their ...

The zoot suit culture was flamboyant embedded in fashion, unique patterns of speech, lindy hop dancing, jazz, swing music and jitterbug among other factors captivating the youth in the 1940’s. In this book, Luis Alvarez explains the relationship between race, region and politics of culture during the World War II in the urban America. He argued that most of the American youth from diverse communities such as African American, Mexican and American youths adopted the popular culture in opposing the commonly accepted modes of youthful behaviors. For example, the dominance of white, middle class expectations and behaviors was ...

In the semi-arid south-west of the United States of America (U.S.), there exist rare and lush wetlands that form habitat to majority of the US’s desert most spectacular biota. Basic biological concepts confirm that where there is permanency of adequate water at the surface or even a few feet below the ground, numerous diverse water dependent floral communities can develop. In this part of the US, there is the Sonoran Desert Ecosystem. The ecosystem is one of the few rarest and most exquisite habitation in the continental North America since majority of the original riparian habitats has long dried ...

Chapter 6

Chapter six of this book addresses technology and reason in war. This chapter basically illustrates a theme of reason being more important in war than technology. Looking at this theme from all perspectives, there is some truth in it. The chapter draws its contents from battle of Mexico who took place in the 16th century.
As the battle continued, the outnumbered Spaniards fought with all available resources ranging from swords to cannons which dropped their opponents from 100 yards or more. This technology made them superior in the war though they were fighting a losing battle.
The Spaniards were ...

9-2) Beer and marijuana are substitute goods, i.e. when the demand for one goes up, it is expected that the demand for the other is likely to go down, as most people would consume either of the two products. When marijuana gets legalized, the distributors would fear that their sales would decline. So beer distributors are likely to oppose the legislation regarding legalizing marijuana.
On the other hand, snack food and marijuana are generally considered to be complementary products, i.e. the demand for one of them increases the demand for the other. This way, when marijuana gets legalized, snack ...

How and Why Undocumented Immigration Has Grown Since 1965

Immigration in the context of the United States has evolved into a significant problem that requires urgent resolution. While it is true that influx of undocumented immigrants in the United States date to various year ago, it is of the essence that the year 1965 experienced the highest rise in the rates undocumented immigrants gaining entry through our porous borders. The main factor that is responsible for the immense growth of undocumented immigrants in the year 1965 is the inaction of The Immigration and Naturalization Act of the year 1965. This act paved way for the rise in illegal ...

Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. By Author, Anderson, Jon L.
Anderson Jon evokes Che Guevara’s intricate character in describing his role and myth, in one of the darkest periods of the cold war. Notably, the book completes the heroic saga of an outstanding life. Anderson begins by breaking the account of the entire event, particularly after Che’s body was secretly hidden after his assassination in Bolivia in 1967. He gives an account of how Che’s body was discovered, and brought back to Cuba after thirty years of murder. He further analyzes how Che’s body ...

The debut book by Laura Esquivel under the name "Like Water for Chocolate" was published first in 1989 and met an unexpected success among the readers and the critics. The success was so big that in 1992 Alfonso Arau, a talented Mexican director, has shot a movie under the same name based on this book. The movie was also a success and brought much fame to a director and the actors making it one of the most recognized non-American films in Hollywood. Moreover, the book itself and the popularity of it made the world publishers reconsider their cooperation with female writers and started ...

Angola is a country found in West Africa. During the 15th century, the Portuguese established contacts with the inhabitants of the North Western part of the country mostly the Mbundu and the Imbangala who actively engaged in slave trade. Their activities in slave trade had great impact in the Atlantic Slave Trade.
The black legend refers to an anti- Spanish propaganda which was commenced by the Italian and Protestant writers in the 16th century. It was in opposition of Spain’s brutality and aggression toward rebels in its properties both in America and Europe.
Dona Marina was an ...

In the book “The War is for the Whole Life” by Richard Hanks the life of mission Indians is explored in a historical context. Hanks examines the lives of Native Americans and the impact that missions and cultural rights played in either helping or harming the population. This book picks out some key events regarding the struggle for equality and related them to both a missionary and a Native American’s perspective.

Chapter 1: Strangers in their own Land

The settlement of California changed Native Americans in many different ways that forever changed one culture’s way of life. The detriment of Native American populations was partially caused by ...

Summary of Book

Supportive Arguments

Sociological Significance of, ‘A paradise built in hell’

Sociology: Book Review- A Paradise Built in Hell
Introduction
In this book review of Rebecca Solnit’s novel, ‘A Paradise built in Hell’ will offer a Summary of the author’s projects of ‘A paradise built in Hell;’ an assessment of her point of views; an examination of the supporting arguments for the positron she has taken and the significance of her work from a sociological perspective.

Summary of Book

“A paradise built in hell” describes the writer’s philosophy of disasters being opportunities as well as oppressive experiences. She depicts these ...

MacLean, Nancy. Freedom Is Not Enough. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2008.

In Nancy MacLean's Freedom Is Not Enough, the difficult transition between a white-dominant culture into one of greater acceptance is described, particularly as it extends to the workforce of the United States. According to MacLean, after World War II, American society could be classified as a "culture of exclusion"1; whites still had the political and social power to prevent African-Americans and Mexican-Americans from participating in the American workforce on an equal level. However, many different forces came into play that managed to increase and promote diversity in the workplace, ...

The Coyolxauhqui Stone

Found at the base of Templo Mayor’s stairs, the Coyolxauhqui is a large, shield-shaped stone relief similar to what was being described in the legend. The sculpture might have been made during the 14th century as the Templo Mayor was built in 1325. It is said that the Templo Mayor was constructed based on a prophecy followed by the Aztecs wherein they will find an eagle perched on a cactus while devouring a snake. The Templo Mayor continued to expand for two centuries. During the time of Spanish Conquest in 1521, it reached a total population of 300,000 and was considered as ...

Book Review - Making a New Deal

Lizbeth Cohen's book Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 tells the story of those people in Chicago during the 1920s and 1930s who labored in factories and manual labor positions. The book starts off with the 1919 wave of strikes that occurred among labor forces and continues through the next two decades, showing the ways in which the Depression and the New Deal affected industrial workers in Chicago. A durable union movement was created from the ashes of these economic hard times, with workers throughout the city coming together to support each other. According to Cohen, "this ...