Judas at the Jockey Club: And Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but somehow obvious
Review: The essay is serious and full of good archive work, scholarly ok, but in some parts one expects wilder conclusions and not only a simple comment on the information provided by the documents or news papers. Apart from that, the author must be sincere, and inform in advance to the reader that he will dedicate much of this work to the ways in which the american culture (sports) spread in Mexico. Many of the conclusions he arrive to, are too obvious and general for the ones who do research in XIX Century Latin America Cultural Studies. [Sorry for any mistakes in my written english]

Rating:
Summary: Who knew that cultural history could be this much fun?
Review: This is a book that deserves to be more widely known. It is a serious historical treatise about culture, social life and customs during the Porfiriato regime of Mexico (1875-1910)- but don't let the academic theme frighten you. Judas at the Jockey Club is an excellent and fascinating read that considers topics like "why and how horse-racing came to Mexico", "why and how baseball became popular", "why cricket faded from popularity", and "what bicycles have to do with politics". Serious scholarship should all be this much fun.

Rating:
Summary: How could they let this book go out of print?
Review: This is one of the books I recommend most frequently when people ask for fun stuff to read, in English, about Mexico. And I frequently assign it to students in intro-level history classes. I'm not entirely convinced by the chapter on rural life, but the book as a whole belongs among the best histories of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century period in Latin America. Dang! Now what will I assign my students? Bring this back into print, please!

Rating:
Summary: How could they let this book go out of print?
Review: This is one of the books I recommend most frequently when people ask for fun stuff to read, in English, about Mexico. And I frequently assign it to students in intro-level history classes. I'm not entirely convinced by the chapter on rural life, but the book as a whole belongs among the best histories of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century period in Latin America. Dang! Now what will I assign my students? Bring this back into print, please!