This book documents thirty years in the life of Las Marionetas de la Esquina, a Mexican puppet company, noting it as an internationally recognized company in a culture that was not particularly hospitable to the art of puppetry. It explanes in detail the company's coice of stories and the serious consideration of the appropriateness of various puppetry techniques.

In this enlightening book, the well-known historian William Beezley contends that a Mexican national identity was forged during the nineteenth century not by a self-anointed elite but rather by a disparate mix of ordinary people and everyday events. In examining independence festivals, childrenÕs games, annual almanacs, and the performances of itinerant puppet theaters, Beezley argues that these seemingly unrelated and commonplace occurrencesÑnot the far more self-conscious and organized efforts of politicians, teachers, and othersÑcreated a far-reaching sense of a new nation. In the century that followed MexicoÕs independence from Spain in 1821, Beezley maintains, sentiments of nationality were promulgated by people who were concerned not with the promotion of nationalism but with something far more immediateÑthe need to earn a living. These peddlers, vendors, actors, artisans, writers, publishers, and puppeteers sought widespread popular appeal so that they could earn money. According to Beezley, they constantly refined their performances, as well as the symbols and images they employed, in order to secure larger revenues. Gradually they discovered the stories, acts, and products that attracted the largest numbers of paying customers. As Beezley convincingly asserts, out of Òwhat sold to the massesÓ a collective national identity slowly emerged. Mexican National Identity makes an important contribution to the growing body of literature that explores the influences of popular culture on issues of national identity. By looking at identity as it was fashioned Òin the streets,Ó it opens new avenues for exploring identity formation more generally, not just in Mexico and Latin American countries but in every nation. Check out the New Books in History Interview with Bill Beezley!

A True Hollywood Love Story? Who's the exotic beauty on the arm of mega-hot ladies' man Bronson Dane? Word is she's Mia Spinelli, recently rumored to be the mistress of her former boss—and Bronson's longtime industry rival. Now she's the personal assistant to Bronson's mother. Is Mia getting "personal" with Bronson, too? He's been spotted escorting her into a Hollywood doctor's office, and Mia has a noticeable baby bump. Has the sultry assistant managed to get under the playboy producer's skin—and into his bed?

The road between Tucson, Arizona, and Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, runs straight and true. Slicing through miles of rolling desert and faraway blue mountains, it could be just another fast way to get from here to there. But if the traveler has a taste for adventure and time to spare, this road can be a rich and unforgettable ride. Equipped with camera, pen, and a lively curiosity, photographer Maeve Hickey and writer Lawrence J. Taylor set out to capture whatever might come their way on the road to Mexico. They roamed and rambled, they stayed well off the beaten track, and they talked to nearly everyone they met, from wisecracking waitresses to landed gentry to street urchins dressed in rags. Their book brings to life the calf ropers and casinos, the saints and sinners, the mariachis and miracles in a no-man's-land that sometimes seems to belong neither to the United States nor to Mexico. Following the footsteps of earlier travelers-traders, warriors, missionaries, and explorers-these modern pilgrims take a hands-on approach to their journey. Throughout, both writer and photographer convey the sizzle and spice of a land where Indian, Mexican, and Anglo worlds have collided, coexisted, and melted into each other for centuries. Their eye for the hidden telling detail carries the reader straight into the action, and their zest for excitement spurs any traveler to drop everything, grab a bag, and hit the road to Mexico.

Offering a comprehensive guide to economical travel in diverse regions of the world, these innovative new versions of the popular handbooks feature an all-new look, sidebars highlighting essential tips and facts, information on a wide range of itineraries, transportation options, off-the-beaten-path adventures, expanded lodging and dining options in every price range, additional nightlife options, enhanced cultural coverage, shopping tips, maps, 3-D topographical maps, regional culinary specialties, cost-cutting tips, and other essentials.

Antonio Cuitla has a date with destiny. But itÕs not the showdown he expects. The once fierce revolutionary now must find his way in the modern world Ð a world he helped to create by overthrowing the old social order. The subtleties of class warfare, of honor and betrayal, all seem beyond the reach of this tragic heroÕs understanding. Is AntonioÕs showdown with a would-be assassin, the cunning aristocrat Don JosŽ, or with Death itself? In this novel of taut suspense and psychological conflict, AmŽrico Paredes presents a poetic and engrossing paradox of Latin American life: The caudillo was defined by revolutionary struggle; how does he make the transition to civic life and society-building after the revolution is over? In Antonio Cuitla and the hacendado Don JosŽ Mar’a, Paredes has summarized the clashing forces that have characterized Mexican culture since the Spanish Conquest: the native versus European worldview; superstition versus rationalism; the hungry masses versus the privileged few. This confrontation is the stuff of which folk legend and song are made. Antonio Cuitla is the heroic warrior of times past. But can he survive in the modern world?