Mexican Indigenous History

From acclaimed and prize-winning historian Paul Gillingham, a rich and vibrant history of one of the world’s most diverse, politically ground-breaking, and influential of countries. At the beginning of his masterful work of scholarship and narration, Paul Gillingham writes, from its outset...

This fascinating journey through Mexico’s history, from its amazing pre-Hispanic past to the end of the 20th century, will reveal more surprises than the listener can imagine. In the words of the self-proclaimed Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, “Mexico has magic. I looked for that magic, and I found it there.”

Antes de que el país moderno naciera en 1821, el territorio que hoy comprende 32 estados y algunas islas pequeñas estaba habitado por antiguas dinastías y reinos de guerreros, astrónomos, sacerdotes, templos para sacrificios humanos y, sorprendentemente, algunas de las ciudades más grandes del mundo. Se estima que la sagrada ciudad de Chichén Itzá, en la península de Yucatán, en su máximo esplendor fue más grande que París.

Día de Muertos is one of Mexico’s most significant cultural expressions. More than a celebration, it is a tradition that brings together memory, community, and identity across generations. This book traces its historical formation from Mesoamerican conceptions of death to its institutional recognition as a living cultural heritage. It examines the structure and meaning of the altar, its fundamental elements, and the regional variations that reflect the country’s cultural diversity. It also explores the historical processes that have shaped the tradition, its place in contemporary ...

As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food - and Mexican food more broadly - become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco, Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world.

Step back in time to the untold story of San Antonio, long before the Alamo became legendary. Volume I takes you on a vivid journey from the prehistoric lands along the San Antonio River, through Spanish colonial ambitions, mission life, and the rise of a frontier pueblo, to the eve of the Texas Revolution. Meet the Indigenous peoples who first called the region home, the Spanish settlers and missionaries who reshaped it, and the diverse communities — mestizo, Anglo, and Afro-descended — that forged a hybrid society capable of surviving frontier challenges. Witness how land, labor, ...

“A powerful series that fills in the cracks and illuminates the shadows of the past.” –Sherri L. Smith, award-winning author of Flygirl Introducing a new nonfiction series that uncovers hidden histories of the United States. The true story of the United States’ Indigenous beginnings...