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Summary: Essential companion for travels in central Mexico & Oaxaca.
Review: This is an excellent book. It is by far the most readable and detailed account of these wonderful colonial monuments in either English or Spanish.Superbly illustrated with dozens of original line drawings, this is a comprehensive survey of more than sixty ancient monasteries in central Mexico and Oaxaca. Many of them are architectural masterpieces. Most of them house extraordinary artistic treasures, whether in the form of murals, paintings, fonts or alterpieces. The small villages where many of them are found go unrecorded in conventional tourist guides. Perry's landmark book has easy-to-follow sketch maps locating all the places described in the text and contains literally hundreds of little-known facts about the buildings, their contents and the background to their construction. Why should you be interested in these monuments? Because, to quote the author, these are "buildings that not only mirror a crucial period in the history of the Americas, but continue to play a central role in the life of the Mexican people today." Few Americans know very much about the missions and monasteries of Mexico and anyone interested in the history of Mexico's colonial period, or interested in the country's art and architecture, will enjoy reading this book, even if they are unable to visit first-hand all the places described. The book's value as a reference source is enhanced by a useful glossary, extensive bibliography and complete index.
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