The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 149

Book Reviews

in her final chapter, "A Two-Ply Lariat," suggests practically how
this desirable objective may be attained.
The publishers of each book may feel proud of their handi-
work. Each is beautifully printed, bound, and illustrated; the
plates in each tell quite as much about the Hopi and their land
as the texts. A fairly close reading of the two volumes has re-
vealed no errata.
REx W. STRICKLAND
Texas Western College
The Military and Political Career of Josd Joaquin de Herrera,
1792-z854. By Thomas Ewing Cotner. Latin-American
Studies, VII. Austin (The University of Texas Press), 1949.
Pp. ix+336.
This study, written as a doctoral dissertation under the super-
vision of the late Dr. Charles W. Hackett, appears now as a
publication of the Institute of Latin-American Studies, which he
founded and directed. Dr. Cotner's investigation has succeeded
in rescuing from relative obscurity the Mexican statesman, Jos6
Joaquin de Herrera, and in presenting him as a decided depar-
ture from the more colorful but less principled figures who
guided the destinies of Mexico in the turbulent generation fol-
lowing independence according to plans, pronunciamientos, and
personalismo. Because of Herrera's respect for legal and consti-
tutional processes, his moderation, and his interest in stability
and progress, he holds a distinguished place in Mexican history
and fully deserves the recognition which his biographer has given
him.
Born of Creole stock, Herrera chose the army for a career,
served as a royalist officer in the struggle for independence, and
commanded a division in Iturbide's Army of the Three Guar-
antees when independence was established in 1821. Although
the liberal and republican principles which Herrera had espoused
by that time led to a temporary imprisonment during Iturbide's
imperial rule, he rose subsequently to the rank of general and
served on several occasions as minister of war while federalism
was in the ascendancy, 1823-1834. When centralism triumphed
in 1834, Herrera sank into partial oblivion, remaining relatively

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