Eric Van Young— Lucas Alamán (1792–1853) was one of the most eminent statesmen of nineteenth-century Mexico, and in the opinion of many the author of the greatest history of Mexico’s independence movement. His public career was played out against the chaotic backdrop of the early republican period, often called the
Paul Gillingham— A well-known Colombian novelist once talked about how sad he was when he killed off a character. Historians never face that problem; our characters die of their own volition, or someone else’s, and there’s not much we can do about it. Our problem is never writing about some
Monica Bravo– After a long period of staying at home, social distancing, and masking up, we are told—at last—that the world is opening up. Breathing a collective sigh of relief (one that still does not extend to every community worldwide, I hasten to add), many are rushing to once again
Andrew Offenburger— In 1883, an academic and traveler named William Henry Bishop posed a question on many Americans’ minds. “What is a world to do,” he asked, “when it has no longer a West?” Bishop wondered how the United States would continue to expand beyond California, following a pattern of
Matthew Affron and Mark A. Castro– Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910-1950, an exhibition that focuses on an extraordinary moment in the history of modern art, opened in October at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). The show is the product of a partnership between the PMA and the Museo del
On the heels of Mexico’s 2012 election, which found the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) back in power after 12 years, questions remain about what this means for the drug wars, Mexican foreign policy, and its relationship with the US. In Mexico: Democracy Interruptedauthor Jo Tuckman explores the narcotics war, the