In this new review in The Latin American Review of Books, Jay Kerr discusses Claudio Lomnitz’s The Return of Comrade Flores Magón. Click here to learn more about the book. Click here to read the full article. An excerpt appears below:

“The Return of Comrade Flores Magón is a welcome contribution to the bibliography of both Ricardo and the PLM. It delicately balances competing disciplines, both in terms of biography and historical writing, but also balances the line between academic and popular history. While its academic credentials are beyond question, the book is more accessible than many of its academic counterparts, and its subject matter is treated objectively but fondly, giving credit to their successes while not shying away from more uncomfortable topics. Claudio Lomnitz states that this is not intended to be the final word on the subject, and in history there rarely is a final word, but he has certainly helped advance our understanding of the Mexican Revolution in taking a transnational perspective and analysing a grassroots movement often overlooked in the traditional narrative of the first major revolution of the 20th century.

The title Lomnitz chose for this book begs questions as to where Flores Magón returned to, and where from. Scattered throughout, are moments of departure and return for both Flores Magón and other members of the PLM, and also the members of the American group that worked to support the cause. But finally, the inevitable close to the biography of the exiled revolutionary ends with the posthumous return of Ricardo Flores Magón himself to his homeland, and the political fallout generated by such an act.”