Cárdenas Compromised

“[A] fine-grained political analysis of Yucatán under Cardenismo. . . . Fallaw advances our understanding of this period on a number of significant fronts. We not only learn how and why the agrarian reform failed, but what an intractable problem Yucatán posed for Mexico City. . . . Fallaw has written a model monograph that exposes the limits of Cardenista reform and the difficulties that traditional political cultures pose for revolutionary regimes.” - Allen Wells, The Americas

"Cárdenas Compromised creates a rich . . . portrait of the Yucatecan political world. . . . Fallaw’s portrait of Yucatán’s politics, with all its official and unofficial exclusions of the majority population, rings so true. In a world where Mexico remains inadequately understood, Fallaw’s book is a welcome addition to the historical literature." - Marjorie Becker, Hispanic American Historical Review

"[A]n important historical study . . . that provides a solid scientific interpretation of a transcendental moment of Mexico’s modern history." - José Alejos García, Rural History

"A well-designed and convincing study. . . ." - Paul Gillingham, Journal of Latin American Studies

"Ben Fallaw’s Cárdenas Compromised offers one of the most thorough treatments of postrevolutionary Mexican politics currently available. . . . Fallaw also provides a much-needed contribution to ethnohistory. . . . Cárdenas Compromised satisfies on multiple levels. . . . Cárdenas Compromised provides an essential contribution to the growing literatures on revolutionary consolidation, agrarian reform, rural politics, and Yucatán itself, and together with a sheaf of recent articles by the same author marks the emergence of an important new voice in Mexican history." - Terry Rugeley, Ethnohistory

"Fallaw does an excellent job at tracking the various political alliances that ran through the Yucatan. . . . Fallaw's work raises important questions about the ability of the federal government to challenge regional elites and impose national revolutionary programs. . . . Enlightening." - Catherine Nolan-Ferrell, Latin American Research Review

"Fallaw’s research is both solid and useful. . . . The introduction and the concluding chapter are excellent in placing Fallaw’s work in the context of existing scholarship. Extensive, often annotated, notes are helpful and the bibliography . . . is a substantial. Historians, political scientists, and other scholars interested in the dynamics of the Cárdenas regime—as well as those more broadly concerned with Latin American political development—will be able to consult this substantive work with profit." - Joel S. Cleland, South Eastern Latin Americanist

"With its meticulous analysis of Cardenista politics at the national, state, and local level, Fallaw’s book will certainly be of interest to students of Mexican history and politics. But it will also be of value to everyone concerned with the politics and process of state formation. . . ." - Jennie Purnell, American Historical Review

"Deeply researched and powerfully argued. . . ." - Paul K. Eiss, Journal of Social History

“A deeply researched and convincingly argued regional study that illuminates the contradictions and ambiguities of Mexico’s most radical post-revolutionary regime.” - Mary Kay Vaughan, author of Cultural Politics in Revolution: Teachers, Peasants, and Schools in Mexico, 1934–1940

“Fallaw presents a great deal of new information on the history of the key state of Yucatán during the decisive years of the 1930s, when Mexico underwent profound political and social reform. Those working on Mexican revolutionary history will find this book invaluable. Broad-minded political scientists will find the analysis illuminating, as well.” - Alan Knight, author of The Mexican Revolution