Winner of a Commonwealth gold medal for Nonfiction and lauded as one of the five best history books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, this epic history of Mexico tells the story of that country's tumultuous origin and development—from its Olmec, Aztec, and Mayan heritage to its present-day incarnation as a dependent, struggling and economically unstable modern country. The history of Mexico, writes Ramón Eduardo Ruiz, one of our most distinguished Mexicanists, is one long tragedy intermittently punctuated by triumph.

"May very likely become the most accessible and comprehensive introduction in English to Mexico's past and present. . . . A triumph." -- New York Newsday
"Hard-hitting without being doctrinaire, this vastly illuminating people's history gives value to the collective trauma of a nation decimated by Spanish colonial rule, betrayed by corrupt politicos and incompetent army chiefs, then manipulated into servile dependence on its neighbor to the north." -- Publishers Weekly
"An excellent book that will set a new standard for general histories of Mexico. . . . Well written, pithy, and thought-provoking. It is a sweeping, magisterial study that goes far beyond the usual pallid tone of most general histories of Mexico on either side of the border. As a student of Mexico, Ruiz has few peers, and this work will establish a new standard." -- Alex M. Saragoza, University of California, Berkeley

Ramón Eduardo Ruíz is a professor in the history department at the University of California San Diego at La Jolla.