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Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution | 
 enlarge | Author: Frank Mclynn
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $17.50
Buy Used: $5.60
You Save: $11.90 (68%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 326439
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0786710888
Dewey Decimal Number: 972
EAN: 9780786710881
ASIN: 0786710888
Publication Date: August 14, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Recounting the decade of bloody events that followed the eruption of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, Villa and Zapata explores the regional, international, cultural, racial, and economic strife that made the rebels Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Emiliano Zapata legends. Throughout this volume drama colludes with history, in a tale of two social outlaws who became legendary national heroes, yet—despite their triumph and only meeting, in 1914, in the Mexican capital—failed to make common cause and ultimately fell victim to intrigues more treacherous than their own. 16 pages of black-and-white photographs bring this gripping narrative to life. "McLynn ... tells it so well ... you can hear the strains of he Mexican patriotic standard ‘Zacatecas' as you read it."—Austin American-Statesman "An admirably clear account of the chaos of revolution, its rivalries and bloody struggles...."—The Spectator "Informative and insightful ... feels less like a history than a great story, as exciting as a Saturday serial Western."—Publishers Weekly
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Well written August 4, 2007
This is a well-written, superb look at the Mexican Revolution and its two most famous revolutionaries. The author does a great job of outlining the backgrounds, motivations and actions of not only Villa and Zapata but also the other major players of the revolution such as Diaz, Madero, Huerta, Orozco, Carranza and Obregon. The author's writing style is such that this book reads more as a story than a dry textbook. Not being well-versed on the Mexican Revolution I truthfully had a hard time putting this book down as I wanted to find out how things turned out. My only recommendation would be a better set of maps to make it easier to follow the action but overall I highly recommend this excellant piece of work to all.
 Great Book!! May 31, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I did not know much about these two characters and the Mexican Revolution itself. However, this book really impressed me, I really like how the author wrote the book, his witty prose is impressive and the story is almost like a novel. I felt like I was reading a novel and yet these events happened in real life. The only thing I did not like was that some details seemed like an assumption, besides that, It is a wonderful book and I suggest you read it, you will learn a lot.
 Zapata a biography January 26, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Zapata
By Roger Parkinson
Emiliono Zapata was born in 1879 in Morelos, Mexico. He lived his live as a revolutionary leader but started as a lowly peasant. He decided to lead a revolution because of the overwhelming hold of the haciendas on peasant life. Zapata disliked this at an early age and this would later grow into a long and bloody revolution. The haciendas were rich plantation owners and peasants were required to work there. If any one disagreed with the system then they would be shut up by murder or beatings. It was as close to slavery as anything could be besides slavery in its true form. This is an interesting and informing book about the leaders and history of the Mexican Revolution.
Zapata's early child life started out being born into a respected, poor family, with a history of being belligerent and quick to fighting. As like normal peasants he worked on a hacienda. Zapata trained horses when he was not on the hacienda.
This book tells about all of the major battles leading to Zapata's death. One of these is the storm on Mexico City which came from all sides so the city had almost no chance of winning. But surprisingly it still took a while for the city to fall.
Zapata and his Zapistas, or his troops, used guerrilla fighting strategies to attack the massive federal army of Mexico. One of his trusted allies was Villa and his Villistas who helped win many important battles. Without this help the revolution would have been worse.
This book says that you don't have to be rich or famous to change the world. You could be extremely poor and still be someone.
Villa And Zapata come back to life February 1, 2005
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Frank McLynn recaptures Zapata's And Villa's personality very accurately. The book begins with a background information on Mexico and the wars that eventually led to the rise of the dictator Porfirio Diaz and his iron fist rule over Mexico. During this time, the rich were getting richer; and the poor could not come out of debt. Eventually one man from the farm lands spoke his mind. Emiliano Zapata, a man who was for land reform from the south, spread his belief to the peasants and urged them to fight back. While this was going on, a stubborn, hot headed, ladies man was stirring up trouble in the north. These two opposite's, one peaceful acting on thought and the other short tempered acting on gut, were to set Mexico free. But after the revolution was over, neither of them would have suspected that it had only just began.
I personally enjoyed this book very much. I have read many Mexican revolutionary books but neither of them have had such a detailed history of the revolutionaries as this book. Frank McLynn describes them and their personality very accurately and it gives you a deeper understanding of them and their motifs for fighting against Diaz. As you read the book, Villa's and Zapata's personalities are unveiled and their troubles are told. McLynn also explains how Villa's and Zapata's personalities are reflected in their battle tactics and politics. I highly recommend this book to those who want to know a better understanding of the Mexican revolution, and its reasons for starting. This book is very detailed and everything is explained making it easy for everyone to read.
Interesting, but I wonder... December 14, 2004
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
I'm quite impressed with the depth and scope of this book. It makes an interesting pair to read with John S.D. Eisenhower's "Intervention", which focuses more heavily on the US role in these events (especially the incident at Tampico and the seizure of Vera Cruz).
The book does have a bit of a "bias" you should be aware of going in. He really seems to come across with the idea that radical revolution is good, and those who are not radical (like Madero) are to be dismissed. In the circumstances, he may not be wrong, but I prefer my history not to wear his opinion quite so blatently.
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