
In The City Of Puebla There Lived An American Who Made Himself Into The Richest Man In Mexico. Driven By A Steely Desire To Prove Himself-first To His Wife's Family, Then To Mexican Elites-william O. Jenkins Rose From Humble Origins In Tennessee To Build A Business Empire In A Country Energized By Industrialization And Revolutionary Change. In Jenkins Of Mexico, Andrew Paxman Presents The First Biography Of This Larger-than-life Personality. When The Decade-long Mexican Revolution Broke Out In 1910, Jenkins Preyed On Patrician Property Owners And Bought Up Substantial Real Estate. He Suffered A Scare With A Firing Squad And Then A Kidnapping By Rebels, An Episode That Almost Triggered A Us Invasion. After The War He Owned Textile Mills, Developed Mexico's Most Productive Sugar Plantation, And Helped Finance The Rise Of A Major Political Family, The Ávila Camachos. During The Golden Age Of Mexican Cinema In The 1940s-50s, He Lorded Over The Film Industry With His Movie Theater Monopoly And Key Role In Production. By Means Of Mexico's First Major Hostile Takeover, He Bought The Country's Second-largest Bank. Reputed As An Exploiter Of Workers, A Puppet-master Of Politicians, And Mexico's Wealthiest Industrialist, Jenkins Was The Gringo That Mexicans Loved To Loathe. After His Wife's Death, He Embraced Philanthropy And Willed His Entire Fortune To A Foundation Named For Her, Which Co-founded Two Prestigious Universities And Funded Projects To Improve The Lives Of The Poor In His Adopted Country. Using Interviews With Jenkins' Descendants, Family Papers, And Archives In Puebla, Mexico City, Los Angeles, And Washington, Jenkins Of Mexico Tells A Contradictory Tale Of Entrepreneurship And Monopoly, Fearless Individualism And Cozy Deals With Power-brokers, Embrace Of Us-style Capitalism And Political Anti-americanism, And Mexico's Transformation From Semi-feudal Society To Emerging Economic Power.
How did an American immigrant navigate the volatile landscape of early 20th-century Mexico to become the nation's wealthiest industrialist and a polarizing figure of economic power? Andrew Paxman, a historian specializing in Mexican business and political history, utilizes extensive archival research and personal interviews to reconstruct the life of William O. Jenkins. The book argues that Jenkins' success was predicated on his ability to exploit the chaos of the Mexican Revolution, leverage political connections, and implement aggressive, often monopolistic, business strategies that mirrored the transition of Mexico from a semi-feudal society to an industrial power.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Historians and scholars of Mexican economic history identify this work as a comprehensive account of foreign capital influence in post-revolutionary Mexico. Readers frequently note the meticulous archival detail and the balanced approach Paxman takes when documenting Jenkins' controversial reputation.
Page Count:
496
Publication Date:
2017-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190455756
ISBN-13:
9780190455750
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