Writing Pancho Villa S Revolution

The 1910 Mexican Revolution saw Francisco "Pancho" Villa grow from social bandit to famed revolutionary leader. Although his rise to national prominence was short-lived, he and his followers (the villistas) inspired deep feelings of pride and power amongst the rural poor. After the Revolution (and Villa's ultimate defeat and death), the new ruling elite, resentful of his enormous popularity, marginalized and discounted him and his followers as uncivilized savages. Hence, it was in the realm of culture rather than politics that his true legacy would be debated and shaped. Mexican literature following the Revolution created an enduring image of Villa and his followers. Writing Pancho Villa's Revolution focuses on the novels, chronicles, and testimonials written from 1925 to 1940 that narrated Villa's grassroots insurgency and celebrated—or condemned—his charismatic leadership. By focusing on works by urban writers Mariano Azuela (Los de abajo) and Martín Luis Guzmán (El águila y la serpiente), as well as works closer to the violent tradition of northern Mexican frontier life by Nellie Campobello (Cartucho), Celia Herrera (Villa ante la historia), and Rafael F. Muñoz (¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa!), this book examines the alternative views of the revolution and of the villistas. Max Parra studies how these works articulate different and at times competing views about class and the cultural "otherness" of the rebellious masses. This unique revisionist study of the villista novel also offers a deeper look into the process of how a nation's collective identity is formed.

Provides an introduction to the life and biography of Pancho Villa, the Mexican outlaw who played an important role in the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

This colorful history of Pancho Villa as a propagandist tells how the legendary guerrilla waged war not only on the battlefield but also in the mass media, where he promoted his foreign policy of friendship with the United States in a bid to gain American backing for the Mexican Revolution between 1913 and 1915. Mark Cronlund Anderson explores issues of race, identity, and the power of the mass media to explain how Villa dueled with his archrivals, Mexican dictator Victoriano Huerta and Villa's ostensible colleague-in-arms, Venustiano Carranza, using a sophisticated public-relations machine. Villa ultimately lost the military struggle but won the propaganda war by successfully casting himself as stereotypically "American" -- clever, fearless, modest, humble, self-reliant, and a champion of the downtrodden -- while representing his rivals as backward, racially inferior, and morally impaired. Examining the diplomatic correspondence, news reports, and even the political cartoons of the time, Anderson reveals how Villa set America's media agendas and influenced U.S. foreign policy -- all the way to the Woodrow Wilson White House.

*Includes pictures *Includes Villa's quotes about his own life *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "My sole ambition is to rid Mexico of the class that has oppressed her and given the people a chance to know what real liberty means. And if I could bring that about today by giving up my life, I would do it gladly." - Pancho Villa "Pancho Villa," people whispered at the beginning of the 20th century, "can march 100 miles without stopping, live 100 days without food, go 100 nights without sleep, and kill 100 men without remorse." The legend of Francisco Villa is full of heroism, tragedy and romance. It is the story of a poor farmer boy who became a bandit out of necessity, after avenging an injustice on his family; a military genius who flew from an oppressive government to lead the largest revolutionary army in his country's history, and defeated dictatorship to become Mexicos liberator, only to fall again in disgrace when his troops abandoned him or were massacred by the enemy. Pancho Villa and his cavalry, Mexicans point out with a certain amount of pride, invaded the United States, and although they came and tried to capture him, they never found him. This is, at least, the version that most of them know, but it's certainly not the same as in their textbooks. The story of Francisco Villa bypassed official censorship from generation to generation, like leaves sailing at full speed on the surface of a stream. But the historical reconstruction is full of nuances. Was he a freedom fighter, or a bandit? Was he a Mexican Robin Hood, or a thief and a murderer? Was he present when his troops invaded U.S. territory? Was the advance of his famous "Dorados" (the "golden ones," the name of his troops) the cause for joy, or terror among the people as they passed the countryside towards Mexico City? Pancho Villas personality has been controversial since the very beginning of his career as a General of the revolutionary army. Many biographies have been written about him, the first of which dates back to only a few years after his death. Counting the number books who take one of those two sides-butcher or freedom fighter-would be impossible, but they would probably form two piles of equal size. Through them, readers can learn divergent tales about one of the most widely known Mexicans, both in his country and abroad. For many Mexicans, he is a hero. In schools, teachers still speak cautiously about him to new generations of children, who are amazed by the tough guy with hat and pistols. And the old, those who had heard about his exploits from their parents, declare that Villa himself will ride again through the mountains of Mexico, on the day when the poor can no longer stand and a new revolution explodes. As Octavio Paz eloquently put it, "The brutality and uncouthness of many of the revolutionary leaders has not prevented them from becoming popular myths. Villa still gallops through the north, in songs and ballads; Zapata dies at every popular fair. ... It is the Revolution, the magical word, the word that is going to change everything, that is going to bring us immense delight and a quick death." Pancho Villa: The Legendary Life of the Mexican Revolution's Most Famous General chronicles the controversial life of one of Mexico's most legendary fighters. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Pancho Villa like never before, in no time at all.

“A frequently fascinating and probably fairly accurate insight into the most controversial character of the Mexican Revolution.” —Time Martín Luis Guzmán, eminent historian of Mexico, knew and traveled with Pancho Villa at various times during the Revolution. When many years later some of Villa’s private papers, records, and what was apparently the beginning of an autobiography came into Guzmán’s hands, he was ideally suited to blend all these into an authentic account of the Revolution as Pancho Villa saw it, and of the General’s life as known only to Villa himself. This is Villa’s story, his account of how it all began when as a peasant boy of sixteen he shot a rich landowner threatening the honor of his sister. This lone, starved refugee hiding out in the mountains became the scourge of the Mexican Revolution, the leader of thousands of men, and the hero of the masses of the poor. The assault on Ciudad Juárez in 1911, the battles of Tierra Blanca, of Torreón, of Zacatecas, of Celaya, all are here, told with a feeling of great immediacy. This volume ends as Villa and Obregón prepare to engage each other in the war between victorious generals into which the Revolution degenerated before it finally ended. The Memoirs were first published in Mexico in 1951, where they were extremely popular. This volume—translated by Virginia H. Taylor—was the first English publication. “This biographical history presents as revealing a historical portrait of the Revolution as the author’s earlier historical novel, The Eagle and the Serpent.” —The Hispanic American Historical Review

A parallel biography of early twentieth-century revolutionaries Pancho Villa and John Reed, discussing the influences in their lifes, and looking at how the two very different men rose to a cause, crossing paths briefly in Mexico in 1913, and went on to fall at the hands of their enemies.

*Includes pictures *Includes Villa's own quotes about his life and career *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "My sole ambition is to rid Mexico of the class that has oppressed her and given the people a chance to know what real liberty means. And if I could bring that about today by giving up my life, I would do it gladly." - Pancho Villa "Pancho Villa," people whispered at the beginning of the 20th century, "can march 100 miles without stopping, live 100 days without food, go 100 nights without sleep, and kill 100 men without remorse." The legend of Francisco Villa is full of heroism, tragedy and romance. It is the story of a poor farmer boy who became a bandit out of necessity, after avenging an injustice on his family; a military genius who flew from an oppressive government to lead the largest revolutionary army in his country's history, and defeated dictatorship to become Mexicos liberator, only to fall again in disgrace when his troops abandoned him or were massacred by the enemy. Pancho Villa and his cavalry, Mexicans point out with a certain amount of pride, invaded the United States, and although they came and tried to capture him, they never found him. This is, at least, the version that most of them know, but it's certainly not the same as in their textbooks. The story of Francisco Villa bypassed official censorship from generation to generation, like leaves sailing at full speed on the surface of a stream. But the historical reconstruction is full of nuances. Was he a freedom fighter, or a bandit? Was he a Mexican Robin Hood, or a thief and a murderer? Was he present when his troops invaded U.S. territory? Was the advance of his famous "Dorados" (the "golden ones," the name of his troops) the cause for joy, or terror among the people as they passed the countryside towards Mexico City? Pancho Villas personality has been controversial since the very beginning of his career as a General of the revolutionary army. Many biographies have been written about him, the first of which dates back to only a few years after his death. Counting the number books who take one of those two sides-butcher or freedom fighter-would be impossible, but they would probably form two piles of equal size. Through them, readers can learn divergent tales about one of the most widely known Mexicans, both in his country and abroad. For many Mexicans, he is a hero. In schools, teachers still speak cautiously about him to new generations of children, who are amazed by the tough guy with hat and pistols. And the old, those who had heard about his exploits from their parents, declare that Villa himself will ride again through the mountains of Mexico, on the day when the poor can no longer stand and a new revolution explodes. As Octavio Paz eloquently put it, "The brutality and uncouthness of many of the revolutionary leaders has not prevented them from becoming popular myths. Villa still gallops through the north, in songs and ballads; Zapata dies at every popular fair. ... It is the Revolution, the magical word, the word that is going to change everything, that is going to bring us immense delight and a quick death." Pancho Villa: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Mexican Revolutionary chronicles the controversial life of one of Mexico's most legendary fighters. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Pancho Villa like never before, in no time at all."