John Reed's Insurgent Mexico

 

 

 This edition has a lot of typographical errors which can at times make reading difficult. Overall its an interesting read, its essentially a series of diary entries, so its not very useful for plotting the military campaigns of the Revolution or the wider political context. But on the other hand, it is an excellent introduction to several Mexican revolutionaries as human beings rather than icons.

From ex-peon irregulars up to Pancho Villa and Caranza. In particular, I found the account of Reed's sole meeting with Caranza fascinating, for the first time I've seen evidence of the turbulent emotions the cold and calculating Constitutionalist leader possessed.

 

 "The killing of Benton was due to a vicious attack on Villa by an enemy of the Revolutionists," roared the First Chief, speaking louder and louder and more rapidly; "and England, the bully of the world, finds herself unable to deal with us unless she humiliates herself by sending a representative to the Constitutionalists; so she tried to use the United States as a cat's paw. More shame to the United States," he cried, shaking his fists, "that she allowed herself to join with these infamous Powers!"

 "I tell you that, if the United States intervenes in Mexico upon this petty excuse, intervention will not accomplish what it thinks, but will provoke a war which, besides its own consequences, will deepen a profound hatred between the United States and the whole of Latin America, a hatred which will endanger the entire political future of the United States!"

 Reed described the countryside and the people vividly, though the political content was surprisingly light, though perhaps that was an unfair impression since the first book by Reed I ever read was Ten Days that Shook the World, his journalistic record of the early days of the Russian Revolution and his constant encounters with committed party men and intellectuals.

 Mainly a series of interesting anecdotes about social conditions, clashes of personality and some occasional combat reports.