History - Playa Del Carmen

The sources below are all entertaining and/or important references: more standard general histories include Henry Bamford Parkes' History of Mexico (Houghton Mifflin); Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico by T.R. Fehrenbach (Replica); A Concise History of Mexico from Hidalgo to Cárdenas by Jan Bazant (CUP, o/p); and Judith Hellman's Mexico in Crisis (Holmes & Meier).

Inga Clendinnen , Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatán 1517 to 1570 (CUP). A product of meticulous research that documents the methods and consequences of the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán. The ambivalence in the title reflects doubts about the effectiveness of the conquest in subjugating the Maya, and the book provides insights into post-Conquest rebellions: over three hundred years after the Conquest the Maya rose in revolt during the Caste War, and almost succeeded in driving out their white overlords, while in January 1994, Maya peasants in Chiapas stunned the world and severely embarrassed the Mexican government by briefly capturing and controlling cities in the southeastern area of the state.

Hernan Cortés , Letters from Mexico (Yale UP). The thoughts and impressions of the conquistador, first hand. Less exciting than Díaz, though.

Bernal Díaz (trans. J.M. Cohen), The Conquest of New Spain (Viking). This abridged version is the best available of Díaz's classic Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España . Díaz, having been on two earlier expeditions to Mexico, accompanied Cortés throughout his campaign of Conquest, and this magnificent eyewitness account still makes compulsive reading.

Adolfo Gilly , The Mexican Revolution (Verso/Routledge, Chapman & Hall, o/p). Written in Mexico City's notorious Lecumberri jail (Gilly was later granted an absolute pardon), this is regarded as the classic work on the Revolution. Heavy-going and highly theoretical though.

Brian Hamnett , A Concise History of Mexico (CUP). The book kicks off with a brief examination of contemporary issues and then jumps back to the time of the Olmecs. A combined chronogical and thematic approach is used to analyse the social and political history of Mexico from then up until the present day. Some fairly large chunks of history are glossed over, but key events and issues are explored in greater detail, making for a good general introduction.

Michael Meyer, William Sherman and Susan Deeds , The Course of Mexican History (OUP). Comprehensive general history.

William Prescott , History of the Conquest of Mexico (Cooper Square Press). Written in the mid-nineteenth century, and drawing heavily on Díaz, Prescott's history was the standard text for over a hundred years. It makes for pretty heavy reading and has now been overtaken by Thomas' account.

John Reed , Insurgent Mexico (International Publications). This collection of his reportage of the Mexican Revolution was put together by Reed himself. He spent several months in 1913 and 1914 with various generals of the Revolution - especially Villa - and the book contains great descriptions of them, their men, and the mood of the times. It's far more anecdotal and easy to read than the celebrated Ten Days that Shook the World .

Jasper Ridley , Maximilian and Juárez (Phoenix). This comprehensive, highly readable account of one of "the great tragicomedies of the nineteenth century" charts the attempt by Napoleon III to establish Archduke Maximilian as the Emperor of Mexico. The colourful narrative brings to life an unmitigated political disaster with huge consequences, including the execution of Maximilian, the insanity of his wife Charlotte and the emergence of the United States as a world power.

Hugh Thomas , Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico (Touchstone); The Conquest of Mexico (Pimlico, UK). Same book, different title, but either way a brilliant narrative history of the Conquest by the British historian previously best known for his history of the Spanish Civil War. A massive work of real scholarship and importance - much of the archive material is newly discovered - but also humorous and readable, with appendices on everything from Aztec beliefs, history and genealogy to Cortés' wives and lovers.

James W. Wilkie and Albert L. Michaels (eds), Revolution in Mexico (University of Arizona Press, o/p). A fascinating anthology of contemporary and more recent writing on the Revolution and the years that followed.