This is a study of one of the leading politicians of Independent Mexico, Jose Maria Tornel y Mendivil, whose loyalty to Santa Anna and whose skills as a writer led him to play a crucial role in enabling the caudillo's repeated rise to power during this period. This first biography of Tornel in English provides a new insight into the political thought of the santanistas and the ways in which Santa Anna was able to return to power time and again in spite of the fact that he was deemed responsible for such major national disasters as the Texas campaign of 1836 and the 1847 defeat against the United States. A close analysis of Tornel's own political evolution, from advocating a radical federalist agenda in the 1820s to defending reactionary dictatorship in the 1850s, illustrates the extent to which the santanistas' policies changed as the hopeful, early 1820s degenerated into the despair of the late 1840s. As the leading ideologue of the santanistas, a study of his politics, paying close attention to the way they evolved in response to the different crises Mexico underwent, highlights, for the first time, the extent to which Santa Anna and his followers upheld a particular political agenda which was essentially populist, militaristic, antipolitics, and nationalistic, and varied depending on the prevailing circumstances and the different historical contexts in which it surfaced. A study of Tornel's activities as Santa Anna's main informer in the capital, his leading propagandist, and as a key player in the orchestration of revolts such as the 1834 Plan of Cuernavaca, serves to show the extent to which Santa Anna's success relied on Tornel's services. Coincidentally or not, without Tornel, Santa Anna was not able to return to power after his fall in 1855.

Antonio L¢pez de Santa Anna (1794?1876) is one of the most famous, and infamous, figures in Mexican history. Six times the country?s president, he is consistently depicted as a traitor, a turncoat, and a tyrant?the exclusive cause of all of Mexico?s misfortunes following the country?s independence from Spain. He is also, as this biography makes clear, grossly misrepresented. ø Will Fowler provides a revised picture of Santa Anna?s life, offering new insights into his activities in his bailiwick of Veracruz and in his numerous military engagements. The Santa Anna who emerges from this book is an intelligent, dynamic, yet reluctant leader, ingeniously deceptive at times, courageous and patriotic at others. His extraordinary story is that of a middle-class provincial criollo, a high-ranking officer, an arbitrator, a dedicated landowner, and a political leader who tried to prosper personally and help his country develop at a time of severe and repeated crises, as the colony that was New Spain gave way to a young, troubled, besieged, and beleaguered Mexican nation. ø ø

Much of the so-called Age of Santa Anna in the history of independent Mexico remains a mystery and no decade is less well understood than the years from 1835 to 1846. In 1834, the ruling elite of middle class hombres de bien concluded that a highly centralised republican government was the only solution to the turmoil and factionalism that had characterised the new nation since its emancipation from Spain in 1821. The central republic was thus set up in 1835, but once again civil strife, economic stagnation, and military coups prevailed until 1846, when a disastrous war with the United States began in which Mexico was to lose half of its national territory. This study explains the course of events and analyses why centralism failed, the issues and personalities involved, and the underlying pressures of economic and social change.

This book offers extensive research of what and why American prisoners were slaughtered in the fight of Texas' independence from Mexico. Presenting a historical background of Texas and Mexican history as well as the factors that led to the massacre, the author pays particular attention to the leadership on both sides during the revolution and deglamorizes the fight against Santa Anna's army while acknowledging the Mexican perspective.

While the literature on Atlantic history is vast and flourishing, few studies have examined the importance of inland settlements to the survival of Atlantic ports. This book explores the symbiotic yet conflicted relationships that bound the Mexican cities of Xalapa and Veracruz to the larger Atlantic world and considers the impact these affiliations had on communication and, ultimately, the formation of national identity. Over the course of the nineteenth century, despite its inland location, Xalapa became an important Atlantic community as it came to represent both a haven and a place of fortification for residents of Veracruz. Yellow fever, foreign invasion, and domestic discord drove thousands of residents of Veracruz, as well as foreign travelers, to seek refuge in Xalapa. At the same time, these adverse circumstances prompted the Mexican government to use Xalapa as a bulwark against threats originating in the Atlantic. The influence of the Atlantic world thus stretched far into central Mexico, thanks to both the instability of the coastal region and the desire of government officials to “protect” central Mexico from volatile Atlantic imports. The boundaries established at Xalapa, however, encouraged goods, information, and people to collect in the city and thereby immerse the population in the developments of the Atlantic sphere. Thus, in seeking to protect the center of the country, government authorities more firmly situated Xalapa in the Atlantic world. This connection would be trumped by national affiliation only when native residents of Xalapa became more comfortable with their participation in the Mexican public sphere later in the nineteenth century. The interdisciplinary and comparative nature of this study will make it appeal to those studying Atlantic history, including historians of Britain, the United States, Latin America, and Africa, as well as those studying communication, print culture, and postal history more broadly.

In late 1833 Mexico, fearing its north-eastern territory in Texas would be lost to North American colonists, sent Col. Juan N. Almonte to Texas on an inspection. Upon his return to the Mexican capital in November 1834, Almonte wrote a secret report of the measures necessary to avoid the loss of Texas---a report that has been unknown to scholars or the general public. Here it is presented in English for the first time, along with more than fifty letters that Almonte wrote during his inspection. When Santa Anna marched an army north to crush the Texas rebellion, Almonte was by his side as a special adviser. Almonte's journal appears here with full annotation, and from the examination of his role in the 1836 campaign we gain an overdue appreciation of this man who played an important part in the history of Texas and Mexico. "A highly classified document is leaking its contents like a lawn sprinkler." Kent Biffle, Dallas Morning News "This is a fascinating and highly satisfying book for anyone interested in the real meat of the story of the Texas Revolution---in all its political, military, and diplomatic dimensions. The editors have put Almonte in the center of this story of Texas in the 1830s and 40s, and that's exactly where he belongs. Bravo!" James Crisp, North Carolina State University "Following the reading of this excellent book, no one can doubt the crucial role that Almonte played in the affairs of Mexico and Texas." F. Todd Smith, East Texas Historical Journal "The editors have provided a welcomed, long overdue, and wholly original contribution to the knowledge of a vital period in Texas history. Almonte's Texas deserves an honored place on the bookshelves of every serious student of the Lone Star State." Stephen L. Hardin, Southwestern Historical Quarterly 2003 Kate Broocks Bates Award for Historical Research---Texas State Historical Association 2003 Summerfield G. Roberts Prize--- Sons of the Republic of Texas 2003 Friends of the Dallas Public Library Award for the Book Making the Most Significant Contribution to Knowledge---Texas Institute of Letters Citation, 2004---San Antomo Conservation Society.

Antonio de Padua Maria Severino Lopez de Santa Anna was a man of many titles general in the Mexican army, president, dictator, landowner and administrator, husband, and father. Santa Anna is well known for his part in the infamous Battle of the Alamo during the U.S.-Mexican War and is considered by many to be a bloodthirsty tyrant. However, there were many sides to this icon of Mexican history. During his long life, Santa Anna rose to the pinnacle of power, yet he died nearly penniless and forgotten. This new biography traces his path from middle-class beginnings to the halls of the capital in Mexico City to exile in Cuba to his final days.