Santa Anna of Mexico - Tapa dura

"There have been many other biographies of Santa Anna, both by Anglophone and Mexican scholars, but none as balanced or revisionist in tone as Fowler's. He seeks to look at Santa Anna 'warts and all' in a searching way in which few authors of even longer works have done." Eric Van Young, author of The Other Rebellion: Popular Violence, Ideology and the Mexican Struggle for Independence, 1810-1821 "Assessing the many findings made in the last thirty years of historiography on the topic, Fowler develops a persuasive new understanding of Santa Anna and the problems that beset the then-young Mexican republic. Fowler's writing style is eloquent, rigorous and accessible. He articulates complex ideas with clarity and simplicity." Abdiel Onate, San Francisco State University

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794-1876) is one of the most famous, and infamous, figures in Mexican history. Six times the country's president, he is consistently depicted as a traitor, a turncoat, and a tyrant - the exclusive cause of all of Mexico's misfortunes following the country's independence from Spain. He is also, as this biography makes clear, grossly misrepresented. Drawing on seventeen years of research into the politics of independent Mexico, Will Fowler provides a revised picture of Santa Anna's life, with new insights into his activities in his bailiwick of Veracruz and in his numerous military engagements. The Santa Anna who emerges from this book is an intelligent, dynamic, yet reluctant leader, ingeniously deceptive at times, courageous and patriotic at others. His extraordinary story is that of a middle-class provincial criollo, a high-ranking officer, an arbitrator, a dedicated landowner, and a political leader who tried to prosper personally and help his country develop at a time of severe and repeated crises, as the colony that was New Spain gave way to a young, troubled, besieged, and beleaguered Mexican nation. Deconstructing the myths surrounding Santa Anna's life, the book offers a fresh view of a critical chapter in Mexico's history.