This book relates the longitudinal participant observation and analysis of the behaviour of the Oaxacan art community, focusing on the cultural production, interaction and collective action of its members as an integrated sector of civil society. It presents a theoretical framework that succinctly defines and discusses postmodernism as a globalising force in the development and use of creative expression, the media and communications technology in a postcolonial context. The theoretical investigation is supported by ethnography that ascertains how hybrid political thought and community altruism characterise the behaviour and the aesthetic expression practised by a new generation of Oaxacan artists. Their collective action towards a pacifistic solution to the Oaxaca Conflict of 2006, a six-month socio-political uprising caused by actual and historic conditions in the national, regional and universal Left-Right political duel, is detailed. The transdisciplinary approach makes the work very relevant for researchers, educators and students of social anthropology, visual communication and media studies, in addition to those interested in Oaxacan, Mexican and Latin American art and culture.

Following Rivers of Gold and The Golden Empire and building on five centuries of scholarship, World Without End is the epic conclusion of an unprecedented three-volume history of the Spanish Empire from “one of the most productive and wide-ranging historians of modern times” (The New York Times Book Review). The legacy of imperial Spain was shaped by many hands. But the dramatic human story of the extraordinary projection of Spanish might in the second half of the sixteenth century has never been fully told—until now. In World Without End, Hugh Thomas chronicles the lives, loves, conflicts, and conquests of the complex men and women who carved up the Americas for the glory of Spain. Chief among them is the towering figure of King Philip II, the cultivated Spanish monarch whom a contemporary once called “the arbiter of the world.” Cheerful and pious, he inherited vast authority from his father, Emperor Charles V, but nevertheless felt himself unworthy to wield it. His forty-two-year reign changed the face of the globe forever. Alongside Philip we find the entitled descendants of New Spain’s original explorers—men who, like their king, came into possession of land they never conquered and wielded supremacy they never sought. Here too are the Roman Catholic religious leaders of the Americas, whose internecine struggles created possibilities that the emerging Jesuit order was well-positioned to fill. With the sublime stories of arms and armadas, kings and conquistadors come tales of the ridiculous: the opulent parties of New Spain’s wealthy hedonists and the unexpected movement to encourage Philip II to conquer China. Finally, Hugh Thomas unearths the first indictments of imperial Spain’s labor rights abuses in the Americas—and the early attempts by its more enlightened rulers and planters to address them. Written in the brisk, flowing narrative style that has come to define Hugh Thomas’s work, the final volume of this acclaimed trilogy stands alone as a history of an empire making the transition from conquest to inheritance—a history that Thomas reveals through the fascinating lives of the people who made it. Praise for World Without End “Readers will not find a more reliable guide to the maturing Spanish Empire. . . . World Without End reminds us that the far-flung Spanish Empire was the work of many minds and hands, and by the end their myriad stories carry a cumulative charge.”—The New York Times Book Review “A sweeping, encyclopedic history of the arrogance, ambition, and ideology that fueled the quest for empire.”—Kirkus Reviews “Literary power is a vital part of a great historian’s armoury. As in his earlier books, Thomas demonstrates here that he has this in abundance.”—Financial Times “A vivid climax to Hugh Thomas’s three-volume history of imperial Spain.”—The Telegraph “Thomas clearly excels in the Spanish history of religion, politics, and culture, [and] successfully shows that Spain’s global ambition knew no bounds.”—Publishers Weekly

A tribute to Mexico’s most important holiday, this extraordinary and definitive volume documents the immense creativity displayed by this popular annual celebration. While there have been other books about the Day of the Dead, most are long out of print and aridly academic. This book features both exceptional “traditional” Indigenous material—such as vibrant folk art and crafts, flamboyant costumes and masks, special food and drink—but also a much more funky, modern approach that blends lively music and dance, colorful parades, cutting-edge contemporary street art, and a festive atmosphere that engages all of the senses with handmade altars, flowers, painted skulls, toys, paintings, murals, and other art objects. Featuring hundreds of specially commissioned photographs and voluminous in-depth research, the book is lavishly illustrated and designed with an aesthetic that draws on both traditional material as well as Mexico’s contemporary street art style. Blending visual elements inspired by the country’s pre-Hispanic heritage, European influences, and modern art trends, the book explores the evolution of the Day of the Dead and the special role it plays. This book is the definitive, authentic resource for all things Day of the Dead.

This book provides a detailed account of the Inca Empire, describing its history, society, economy, religion, and politics, but most importantly the way it was managed. How did the Inca wield political power? What economic strategies did the Inca pursue in order to create the largest native empire in the Western Hemisphere? The book offers university students, scholars, and the general public a sophisticated new interpretation of Inca power politics and especially the role of religion in shaping an imperial world of great ethnic, social, and cultural diversity.