Mexico Tourism: Recommended Books

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Recommended Books

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Studying up on Mexico can be one of the most fun bits of "research" you'll ever do. If you'd like to learn more about this fascinating country before you go -- which I encourage -- these books and movies are an enjoyable way to do it.

History & Culture -- For an overview of pre-Hispanic cultures, pick up a copy of Michael D. Coe's Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs or Nigel Davies's Ancient Kingdoms of Mexico. Richard Townsend's The Aztecs is a thorough, well-researched examination of the Aztec and the Spanish conquest. For the Maya, Michael Coe's The Maya is probably the best general account. For a survey of Mexican history through modern times, A Short History of Mexico by J. Patrick McHenry (Doubleday) provides a complete, yet concise account.

John L. Stephens's Incidents of Travel in the Yucatán, Vol. I and II (Dover Publications) are considered among the great books of archaeological discovery, as well as being travel classics. The two volumes chart the course of Stephens's discoveries of the Yucatán, beginning in 1841. Before his expeditions, little was known of the region, and the Mayan culture had not been discovered. During his travels, Stephens found and described 44 Mayan sites, and his account of these remains the most authoritative in existence.

For a more modern exploration of the archaeology of the region, Peter Tompkins's Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids is a visually rich book which explores not only the ruins of the Maya in the Yucatán, but the whole of Mexico's archaeological treasures.

For contemporary culture, start with Octavio Paz's classic, The Labyrinth of Solitude, which still generates controversy among Mexicans. For a recent collection of writings by Subcomandante Marcos, leader of the Zapatista movement, try Our Word is Our Weapon. Another source is Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion by George Collier, et al. For those already familiar with Mexico and its culture, Guillermo Bonfil's Mexico Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization is a rare bottom-up view of Mexico today.

Lesley Byrd Simpson's Many Mexicos (University of California Press) provides a comprehensive account of Mexican history with a cultural context. A classic on understanding the culture of this country is Distant Neighbors, by Alan Riding (Vintage).

Art & Architecture -- Art and Time in Mexico: From the Conquest to the Revolution, by Elizabeth Wilder Weismann, covers religious, public, and private architecture. Casa Mexicana, by Tim Street-Porter, takes readers through the interiors of some of Mexico's finest homes-turned-museums, public buildings, and private homes.

Folk Treasures of Mexico, by Marion Oettinger, is the fascinating story behind the 3,000-piece Mexican folk-art collection amassed by Nelson Rockefeller over a 50-year period.

Maya Art and Architecture, by Mary Ellen Miller (Thames and Hudson) showcases the best of the artistic expression of this culture, with interpretations into its meanings.

For a wonderful read on the food of the Yucatán and Mexico, pick up Mexico, One Plate at a Time, by celebrity chef and Mexico aficionado Rick Bayless (Scribner).

Nature -- A Naturalist's Mexico, by Roland H. Wauer, is a fabulous guide to birding. A Hiker's Guide to Mexico's Natural History, by Jim Conrad, covers flora and fauna and tells how to find the easy-to-reach as well as out-of-the-way spots he describes. Peterson Field Guides: Mexican Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson and Edward L. Chalif, is an excellent guide.

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Mexico Tourism: Recommended Books

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