Hispanic American Historical Review 85:1 Copyright 2005 by Duke University Press church history, van Oss reveals a sharp decline in mendicant architectural activity beginning in the 1580s and a surge in secular church construction from 1650 to 1790, the age of the baroque in Mexico. The last essay (the only one not focused on the colonial period) analyzes the effect of Mexicoâs Cristero Rebellion (1926â29) on church upkeep in the state of Hidalgo. He states that parishioners maintained church buildings in good condition regardless of the open hostilities between the Mexican revolutionary government and the Catholic Church. He uses this fact to argue that revolutionary programs did little to pry the faithful away from Catholicism and to suggest that public religious ceremonies may even have continued despite the churchâs suspension of the sacraments. Given the circumstances under which this book came into being, it is natural that some essays are stronger than others. The volumeâs previously published articles are solidly researched and present clear conclusions. On the other hand, the unpublished works are highly descriptive in nature and suggest conclusions without extensive evidentiary grounding. Their topics and inferences are tantalizing, and one can only regret that van Oss
/lp/duke-university-press/mexico-under-siege-popular-resistance-to-presidential-despotism-2gTN3RMdjV