The Sonoran Dynasty in Mexico: Revolution, Reform, and Repression (Confluencias)

Honorable Mention for the 2024 Alfred B. Thomas Book Award Two generals from the northwestern state of Sonora, Álvaro ObregÓn and Plutarco ElÍas Calles, dominated Mexico between 1920 and 1934, having risen to prominence in the course of the Mexican Revolution.Torn between popular demands for ending the privileges of wealthy foreign investors and opposition by a hawkish U.S. administration and enemies at home, the two generals and their allies from their home state mixed radical rhetoric with the accommodation of entrenched interests. In The Sonoran Dynasty in Mexico JÜrgen Buchenau tells the story of this ruling group, which rejected the Indigenous and Catholic past during the decades of the revolution and aimed to reinvent Mexico along the lines of the modern and secular societies in western Europe and the United States.In addition to ObregÓn and Calles, the Sonoran Dynasty included Adolfo de la Huerta and Abelardo L.RodrÍguez, four Sonorans among six presidents in less than two decad