This is the beginning of the end…. Ruffo Espinosa, Sr., the author of this remarkable historical novel, was born in Mexico in 1907, although he spent most of his adult life in the United States. He ... read more

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the American people, desperately in need of relief from fears about the future, turned for escape to movie stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for champagne a... read more

Mario Mareno Reyes was the sixth son of 15 children, who became a world-wide cinema super star, was married to the same woman for more than 30 years, and made enormous financial contributions to the Me... read more

Just when you think you know everything about the golden age of movies, along comes still more information to snap you back to reality. You may not have ever heard of him yourself, but one of the most ... read more

Born August 8, 1879, in Anenecuilco, Morelos. Was a mediero (sharecropper) and horse trainer. Conscripted into the army for seven years attaining the rank of sergeant. As president of the village ... read more

To most of us, the term "German agent" conjures up the image of a heel-clicking Bundist swilling beer and sieg heiling as he attends his monthly meeting at Camp Siegfried. If his vintage is pre-WW... read more

A very straightforward, unbiased, factual account of Mexican history from the times of the Indians, the Mayas and Toltecs and Aztecs up to the 1960s. read more

In a magazine interview, I was asked who had the most beautiful face of all time. I unhesitatingly answered, "Dolores Del Rio." Not Garbo, Dietrich, or Elizabeth Taylor can compare with Dolores Del Ri... read more

"The evil men do lives after them, the good is often interred with their bones." These words of Shakespeare may well describe the future of U.S. President Bill Clinton, but in writing about Mexican Pre... read more

William Reed tells us his own personal story and what a tale it is. Most of the action takes place in Puerto Vallarta where Reed has lived since his move to the beach in '72. He seems to have met everyone who ever went there - including some very well-known ones, such as actor Richard and Elizabeth Burton, Peter O'Toole, Xaviera Hollander and many, many others. Two people who figure most prominently in the story are movie director John Huston and Johnny Weissmueller (Tarzan himself). In the struggle for Huston's affections, William Reed was the loser. It all adds up to quite a story. read more

The story is based on the mysterious death/disappearance of the American writer Ambrose Bierce who, at age 71, went into Mexico in 1913 during the Revolution and vanished. Bierce is the author of such works as "The Devil's Dictionary" and "Incident at Owl's Creek Bridge." He was a contemporary of writers like Bret Harte and Mark Twain. He was also a newspaper reporter, employed at the time of his death by the San Francisco Chronicle, which was part of the William Randolph Hearst empire. Bierce had also seen distinguished service in the Civil War. read more

This is a wonderful mixture of fact and fiction about America, Mexico and baseball. The time of the story is the ‘40s when Mexico had great baseball teams and the Veracruz Blues "was the best ball club that ever was". The story is about 1946, la temporada de oro, the season of gold. read more

I found this novel to be a total winner. In fact, it just kept on getting better and better and I can’t recommend it highly enough. A couple of people described it as "that gory book" when I mentioned I was reading it. Yes, it’s gory, because it describes a society that was rather big on human sacrifice and a people who were rather beastly to neighboring tribes. But they had worthy things going for them, too. They built a wonderful city and produced great artists and created a viable civilization. My hat is off to Gary Jennings. read more

This must surely be one of the great adventure stories of all time – how Hernan Cortés and about 500 conquistadores conquered a settled and established civilization in three short years, from 1519 to 1521. Distinguished scholar and historian Hugh Thomas has made good use of recently discovered archival material in both Spain and Mexico to produce a feast of reading for history buffs. Cortés must have been an incredible leader – as well as being a total bastard. read more

The book is ased on an actual incident in relations between the U.S. and Mexico when, in 1916, Pancho Villa's bandidos, led by Antonio Salazar, raided the small town of Columbus, New Mexico. The border between the two countries in those times was a more tense and seemingly less well-defined place at the beginning of the century. Certainly there was less coming-and-going between the two countries then. read more

"Although events in Mexican history and in Frida's life provide the general framework, many incidents and characters portrayed here are the author's inventions. Although many of Frida's biographers mention her younger sister, Christina, I have reinvented the youngest Kahlo girl to make her a perspicacious witness to Frida's life. My intention in writing Frida was to capture the essence of Frida Kahlo's personality, not to document her life. I was particularly interested in what it might be like to be the unexceptional sister of such an exceptional woman…." read more

This novel is described in several places as a classic of modern Hispanic literature and it really is a powerful book. Novelist Mariano Azuela knew what he was writing about, having served as a doctor in Pancho Villa's army and having participated in several key engagements in that conflict. read more

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña was the second president of Mexico and the first to come from las clases populares (the "popular" classes), which in Spanish is a euphemism for an individual of ... read more

As the evening mass ended, the huge colonial doors of Santa Maria Magdalena swung open. People swarmed down the church stairs into the plaza. I moved along with the crowd to a wrought iron bench.... read more

(1877–1945) President: 1924-28 Mexico is a land of intense faith. The cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the saints on automobile dashboards, the vast crowds making pilgrimages on... read more

It is inevitable that comparisons will be drawn between José Morelos y Pavón and his mentor and predecessor, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Both were Roman Catholic priests of casual vocation who ... read more

The Surrealist poet, self-styled architect and arts patron Edward James liked to put his ideas into concrete form before they got away read more

Those who characterize liberals as wimps or ineffective bleeding hearts would think twice if they lived in the era of a fiery and committed jurist and reformer named Santos Degollado. Along with the po... read more

Few movements have ever started out less auspiciously than Francisco Madero's rebellion against Porfirio Diaz, the man who had held Mexico in an iron grip for 35 years. The maderis... read more