The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98, July 1994 - April, 1995 Page: 357
682 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
forces within the country would have accomplished this eventually, the expropri-
ation accelerated the process. The economic downturn that had begun in 1937
worsened rapidly after the expropriation, as capital fled, the peso fell, and
tourism plunged. The government could not meet its payroll and had to scale
back costly social reforms. Retrenchment forced the revolutionary regime into
confronting organized labor, its most important ally. Thus, according to Knight,
the nationalization fragmented rather than united radical forces, thereby
strengthening conservatives.
Noteworthy in the volume is the reexamination of the role of the oil workers'
unions, particularly the Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleos de la Republica
Mexicana (STPRM), by Jonathan Brown, Lief Adelson, Alberto J. Olvera, and
Ruth Adler. Their use of STPRM archives considerably enriches our knowledge.
Furthermore, the contributors reflect the growing diversity of primary sources in
Mexican revolutionary history, not only employing archives in Mexico, the Unit-
ed States, and Great Britain, but at the state and local levels in Mexico, and in-
terviews as well.
In sum, these essays provide a welcome new look at a critical topic in Mexican
history.
Rutgers University MARK WASSERMAN
Open Spaces, City Places: Contemporary Writers on the Changing Southwest. Edited by
Judy Nolte Temple. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994. Pp.
xiii+144. Acknowledgments, introduction. ISBN o-81651-440-2. $14.95, pa-
per.)
If the essays in Open Spaces, City Places seem markedly dissimilar in tone and
content, it's because of the subject they address. The Southwest, and how writers
and scholars view it, is a topic sprawling enough to justify the diverse collection
of writings assembled by Judy Nolte Temple.
The book is an outgrowth of the 1985 and 1987 Writers of the Purple Sage
conferences which Temple directed for the Tucson Public Library. Exactly what
constitutes "the Southwest" is not defined, but the states of Arizona, New Mexi-
co, and Texas are well represented.
In her introduction, Temple dedicates the book to "the idea that writers who
love the Southwest should have as much of a voice in the fate of the fastest-grow-
ing region in America as do planners and politicians" (p. xiii). The essays that
follow are the distinct tongues of that voice.
Former Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall defends regional literature
and its roots: "Don't be afraid of myths. For authors and writers, the myths and
mythical world are as important as the real world" (p. 4).
Less romantically inclined toward mythological writing is Tucson journalist
Charles Bowden, who scoffs at Southwestern writing that ignores the region's ur-
ban centers: '"The best of all writing in the Southwest today appears in newspa-
pers and magazines. I'd rather read The Texas Monthly than most of the drivel
produced by our universities" (p. 16).1994
357
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98, July 1994 - April, 1995, periodical, 1995; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101216/m1/395/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.