"A History of Infamy makes two significant contributions to the historiography of modern Mexico: 1) that impunity was not an obstacle to modernization; and 2) that the state only punished those who did not have the means to circumvent justice (263). In shifting the gaze towards how people of the past debated and processed these realities in the public sphere, Piccato reminds us that Mexicans have been confronting and challenging authority for more than a century. He has also shown us that there is a redemptive quality in understanding the past in order to come to terms with the challenging present. This book is a must read for scholars of Latin America, but will surely be of interest to those studying crime and punishment, literature, the press, and political violence."
