John W. Sherman – författare

What are the historical roots of the Mexican right, which has seemingly come from nowhere to play a critical role in contemporary Mexico? This lucid study of the right in the pivotal decade of the 1930s provides the answer. Traditionally, historians have viewed the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) as the apogee of a successful Institutionalized Revolution. In truth, at odds with a conservative political culture, cardenismo failed. Its demise assured the rule of a corrupt, oligarchical regime that employs revolutionary rhetoric even while vigorously suppressing popular aspirations, and placed Mexico on its sad course into the present.The presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) has long been viewed as the successful apogee of Mexico's Institutionalized Revolution. Scholars have traditionally portrayed Cárdenas as a widely popular reformer: the idealist who gave peasants land and the nationalist who seized American oil company properties. Others hold him responsible for establishing Mexico's modern authoritarian state. Now these interpretations are challenged in this evocative book, which examines the vital role of the Mexican right on the eve of cardenismo and during its tenure.Even while the institutional right withered in the face of Mexico's Revolutionary leviathan, a new right emerged and undermined cardenismo in Mexico's fundamentally conservative political culture. Employing the media, literature, and spontaneous grassroots politics, the right appealed to values rooted in faith, family, and fatherland, and convinced a majority of Mexicans that Fat Lips Cárdenas vision for their country was radical and dangerous. The 1940 presidential election debacle followed, when the President imposed his moderate successor on a reluctant electorate. Despite this, the Cardenista agenda for Mexico could not endure. Cardenismo, rather than a defining point in 20th-century Mexican history, became only a noteworthy exception to a continuity of conservatism.

The American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born played a major role in legal matters pertaining to deportation, naturalization, and immigration. This study provides the first thorough examination of its work, from the Depression decade of the 1930s, when the committee defended prominent labor activists such as Harry Bridges, through the war years and into the 1950s, when it served as a legal bulwark for the Communist Party. In 1955 the ACPFB itself became a defendant-as the pilot case before the Subversive Activities Control Board. Cautious and rational, the Board reached the correct conclusion that the organization was a Communist Party front.Indeed, in its fidelity to American communism, the ACPFB pursued a political agenda that often violated its stated mandate. It not only failed to protect Japanese-Americans during World War II, but it actually supported their internment. During the closing years of the war, it attempted to influence ethnic communities for the benefit of the Communist Party. False agendas, undemocratic internal controls, and duplicity drove liberal sympathizers away from the ACPFB by the early 1950s, when the pressures of the second Red Scare threatened both it and its host. The story of the ACPFB ultimately sheds new light on the nature of American communism itself-demonstrating anew its nature as a political movement in pursuit of power.

Latin America in Crisis builds a clear-eyed consideration of the fundamental economic and political realities of Latin America today onto a framework of introductory history. It is a concise core text for Latin American survey courses that require both a historical perspective and an attention to contemporary issues. In its focus on patterns of pol

This book examines the intellectual problem of Latin American poverty, and discusses some of the explanations scholars have traditionally used to account for it. It focuses on its political and military dimensions of revolution and counterrevolution in the postwar era.

This engaging book provides a brief, accessible introduction to the broad sweep of Mexican history, from pre-contact civilizations to the present. John Sherman explores the nation’s rich pre-Columbian heritage, including the great pyramids of Teotihuacán, while a stand-alone chapter addresses the Yucatán Maya, including a detailed account of Chichen Itzá. The drama of the conquest ushers in Mexico’s three colonial centuries. The author brings to life the pageantry of viceregal reign, the power of the Roman Catholic Church, the poignancy of Sor Juana’s poetry, the Virgin of Guadalupe, hacendados, silver barons, and pirates. The turmoil of the Hidalgo revolt, the loss of Texas, a cataclysmic war with the United States, French invasion, and the triumph of Benito Juárez define the era of early nationhood. He shows how the shrewd dictator Porfirio Díaz is toppled in rebellion, as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa ride again. Exploring the breadth of the twentieth century, Sherman uncovers the roots of a vested oligarchy that still dominates Mexico today. In clear, vibrant style, he tells the dramatic tale of a nation whose history is integrally tied to that of the United States. Focusing on political and economic processes, the author provides a crisp narrative, enhanced with a rich array of maps and illustrations.

This engaging book provides a brief, accessible introduction to the broad sweep of Mexican history, from pre-contact civilizations to the present. John Sherman explores the nation’s rich pre-Columbian heritage, including the great pyramids of Teotihuacán, while a stand-alone chapter addresses the Yucatán Maya, including a detailed account of Chichen Itzá. The drama of the conquest ushers in Mexico’s three colonial centuries. The author brings to life the pageantry of viceregal reign, the power of the Roman Catholic Church, the poignancy of Sor Juana’s poetry, the Virgin of Guadalupe, hacendados, silver barons, and pirates. The turmoil of the Hidalgo revolt, the loss of Texas, a cataclysmic war with the United States, French invasion, and the triumph of Benito Juárez define the era of early nationhood. He shows how the shrewd dictator Porfirio Díaz is toppled in rebellion, as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa ride again. Exploring the breadth of the twentieth century, Sherman uncovers the roots of a vested oligarchy that still dominates Mexico today. In clear, vibrant style, he tells the dramatic tale of a nation whose history is integrally tied to that of the United States. Focusing on political and economic processes, the author provides a crisp narrative, enhanced with a rich array of maps and illustrations.

Few nations in the world have trekked such a dramatic political path as Peru. Its relatively neglected post-1821 history comes alive in this concise and timely illustrated survey. Opening chapters address the complex struggle for independence, the chaotic age of the caudillos, nascent stability under Ramón Castilla, and the War of the Pacific. Middle chapters look at state-building under Cáceres and Leguía, the Aristocratic Republic, labor and social unrest, the radical thought of Mariátegui, and the political dynamism of Haya de la Torre’s APRA. Later chapters look at the Odría Ocenio, the governments of Belaúnde and García, the Sendero war, the Fujimori dictatorship, and the rise and fall of Pedro Castillo. Stand-alone chapters also explore Peruvian culture. Sensitive to issues of gender, ethnicity, and class, Peru since Independence fills a glaring gap in our understanding of a vital Latin American and Pacific Rim nation.

Few nations in the world have trekked such a dramatic political path as Peru. Its relatively neglected post-1821 history comes alive in this concise and timely illustrated survey. Opening chapters address the complex struggle for independence, the chaotic age of the caudillos, nascent stability under Ramón Castilla, and the War of the Pacific. Middle chapters look at state-building under Cáceres and Leguía, the Aristocratic Republic, labor and social unrest, the radical thought of Mariátegui, and the political dynamism of Haya de la Torre’s APRA. Later chapters look at the Odría Ocenio, the governments of Belaúnde and García, the Sendero war, the Fujimori dictatorship, and the rise and fall of Pedro Castillo. Stand-alone chapters also explore Peruvian culture. Sensitive to issues of gender, ethnicity, and class, Peru since Independence fills a glaring gap in our understanding of a vital Latin American and Pacific Rim nation.

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 2nd edition includes the following changes:- 2 additional chapters, covering contemporary Mexico in the 21st century- Fresh and substantial content about the cartels, criminal organizations, and the drug war- The latest updates on pre-Columbian archaeological discoveries- 20 new illustrations - 10 inserts addressing historiography and referencing over 100 scholarly books- An expanded and updated Suggestions for Further Reading section 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 3 centuries of viceregal Spanish rule. The struggle for independence, war with the United States, French Intervention, Benito Juárez, dictatorship under Porfirio Díaz, revolutionary upheaval under “Pancho” Villa – all are laid out in crystal clear narrative. Nor does this book shirk from addressing the darker side of history. Examining the corruption of 20th-century presidents, security apparatuses, and the PRI party, it explores the roots of present-day cartels and rising patterns of social violence.