Death and the Idea of Mexico

By Claudio Lomnitz,

Book cover of Death and the Idea of Mexico

Book description

Death and the Idea of Mexico is the first social, cultural, and political history of death in a nation that has made death its tutelary sign. Examining the history of death and of the death sign from the sixteenth-century holocaust to contemporary Mexican American identity politics, anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz’s innovative…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Death and the Idea of Mexico as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I wanted to include a book here on ‘Holy Death’ herself, Santa Muerte, but there simply isn’t a good one. There’s a terrible one published by a once respectable academic publisher, but I can’t recommend it. Instead, there are some passages on Santa Muerte in this huge and significant piece of work: Lomnitz’s encyclopedic book digs into Mexico’s deep roots to explore the long relationship the country has with Death, of which the still growing ‘cult’ of Santa Muerte is but one emanation.

Want books like Death and the Idea of Mexico?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Death and the Idea of Mexico.

Browse books like Death and the Idea of Mexico

Book cover of Juarez: The Laboratory of Our Future
Book cover of Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel
Book cover of The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,224

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the USA Mexico border, Mexico, and presidential biography?

Mexico 232 books