Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People

By Ramón Eduardo Ruiz

Book Overview

Winner of a Commonwealth gold medal for Nonfiction and lauded as one of the five best history books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, this epic history of Mexico tells the story of that country's tumultuous origin and development--from its Olmec, Aztec, and Mayan heritage to its present-day incarnation as a dependent, struggling and economically unstable modern country. The history of Mexico, writes Ram?n Eduardo Ruiz, one of our most distinguished Mexicanists, is one long tragedy intermittently punctuated by triumph.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393310663
• ISBN13: 9780393310665
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 514 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A thorough and personable history of Mexico

Ruiz uses the most dense prose I have ever encountered. If you have the time and the patience, out of this dense prose emerges a detailed account of Mexican history. Ruiz has gone to great lenghts to obtain personal histories and personality profiles of hundreds of key figures in Mexican history, and uses this information to weave a tale that shows how not only political machinations but personal foibles and ambitions interact to create history. His story encompasses romance, war, and economic figures, and is told with a surprising bit of subtle irony, while striving to maintain an objective view of events. This book is for history buffs who love to read lengthy tomes, but is not meant for Cliff's notes fans.