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The Mixtecs of Oaxaca: Ancient Times to the Present . Edited by Ronald Spores and Andrew K. Balkansky . Norman : University of Oklahoma Press , 2013. Pp. 328. Illustrations. $45.00 cloth.
Thanks to both academic scholarship and popular culture, the Aztecs and the Maya are probably the best known and most studied among Mesoamerican civilizations. Yet, as Ronald Spores and Andrew Balkansky show in this ambitious book, the Mixtecs of Oaxaca merit a place among the great civilizations, not only for their rich history and culture, but also for their ability to survive and adapt to changing world-historical forces down to the present. In this work, which is a culmination of four decades of engagement with Mixtec history, Spores and Balkansky provide a go-to reference, not just for the specialist but also for newcomers. The book is sprinkled with suggestions on future directions for research.
The book itself is divided into two parts. The first examines the pre-Hispanic Mixtec culture, and the second focuses on Mixtec history from...