Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico (Second Edition)
This brilliant and eminently readable cultural history looks at Mexican life during the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, from 1876 to 1911. At that time Mexico underwent modernization, which produced a fierce struggle between the traditional and the new and exacerbating class antagonisms. In these pages, the noted historian William H. Beezley illuminates many facets of everyday Mexican life lying at the heart of this conflict and change, including sports, storytelling, healthcare, technology,...
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During the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, from 1876 to 1911, Mexico underwent modernization, producing a fierce struggle between the traditional and the new and exacerbating class antagonisms. William H. Beezley's absorbing social history of the Porfirian era, Judas at the Jockey Club, examines a broad range of topics from sports to technology as well as the traditional Easter-time Judas burnings that became a primary focus of the strife during these years. Library Journal Just beneath the surface of this seemingly lighthearted little book is a very thick foundation of solid scholarship. The author succeeds admirably in opening a window to the minds of turn-of-the-century Mexicans pursuing the elusive idea of progress. Beezley looks at bicycle riding, cockfighting, sports, and Judas burning, as activities that illustrate the psychological pushes and pulls that characterized this important period of Mexican history. He has provided undergraduates and graduate students with a delightfully written, unique example of what social history is about. Nicholas P. Cushner, History Department, Empire State College, State University of New York at Buffalo
List of IllustrationsPreface to the Second EditionPrefaceIntroduction3The Porfirian Persuasion: Sport and Recreation in Modern Mexico13Rocks and Rawhide in Rural Society: Tools and Technology in Porfirian Mexico67Judas at the Jockey Club89Afterword125Notes133Bibliography161Index175
\ American Historical Review“In three superbly crafted and incisive essays, William H. Beezley examines the leisure culture of high society and the traditional culture of ‘everyday Mexicans’ and their interaction and clash. . . . Witty and entertaining but also thought-provoking.”—American Historical Review\ \ \ \ \ Journal of American Folklore“A book that will be read and enjoyed, and that will illuminate succeeding generations of Mexican history students. . . . A landmark study of Mexican cultural history.”—Journal of American Folklore\ \ \ Library JournalJust beneath the surface of this seemingly lighthearted little book is a very thick foundation of solid scholarship. The author succeeds admirably in opening a window to the minds of turn-of-the-century Mexicans pursuing the elusive idea of progress. Beezley looks at bicycle riding, cockfighting, sports, and Judas burning, as activities that illustrate the psychological pushes and pulls that characterized this important period of Mexican history. He has provided undergraduates and graduate students with a delightfully written, unique example of what social history is about. Nicholas P. Cushner, History Department, Empire State College, State University of New York at Buffalo\ \
