In Combat: The Life of Lombardo Toledano

Daniela Spenser, Ph.D. (1994), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is a professor at Centro de Investigaciones Estudios Superiores en Antropologa Social in Mexico City. Her research focuses on the history of communism and the Cold War in Mexico and Latin America.

• AcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsAbbreviationsIntroductionPart 1 Changing Times and Ideas1 Family1 The Village2 Children3 Vicente Lombardo Toledano4 The Wise Man5 The Family2 Knowledge and Power1 Renewal2 The Break3 On the Campaign Trail4 From the Government Palace5 On the Road to the Chamber of Deputies6 The Trip7 The Polemical Dispute8 Ideological Passion3 Exodus1 In the CROM2 Collapse3 The Labour Law4 The Road to the LeftPart 2 Crusades4 A Journey into the World of the Future1 The Preparations2 The Trip3 Different Perspectives4 Back in Mexico5 The President and the Leader6 The Gide Case5 The Foundations of the Nation1 The Preparations2 The First Pillar3 Into Action4 The Schism5 Disunity6 The President and the Leader6 A Continental Feat1 In Santiago de Chile2 The Planning3 In the United States4 In Europe5 The Founding Congress6 To the AttackPart 3 War: Threshold of a Better World?7 Fight Fascism!1 The Defeat of the Spanish Republic2 Exile3 Face to Face with Leon Trotsky4 The Pact and Its Violation5 In Soviet Intelligence6 The Undesirable Anti-fascists8 The Illusory Unity1 On the Campaign Trail2 The Victory3 The Farewell4 The Re-election5 The Elusive Unity9 The Fragile Harmony1 The Latin American Panorama2 The Congress3 The Celebrated Trip4 The Catavi Massacre5 Coups and Blows6 From Montevideo to Caracas7 From Philadelphia to Cali8 The Elusive HarmonyPart 4 Animosities and Confrontations10 For the Renewal of the Nation1 The Future2 On the Campaign Trail3 The Roundtable4 Elections in the CTM5 The Expulsion6 The Crisis of the Nation11 For the Spilled Blood1 The Postwar Map2 In London3 In Paris4 In the Other Europe5 Confrontations6 In People’s China12 Emancipation1 Removing Obstacles2 On an Inspection Tour3 In Lima4 The Third Congress5 The Oil Workers6 Failed EmancipationPart 5 On the Fronts of the Cold Peace13 Rearmament1 The People’s Party2 UGOCM3 Back on the Campaign Trail4 Aftermath of Defeat5 The Succession6 The Cold Peace14 Mission Completed1 Anti-communist Liberalism2 Liberal Internationalism3 In Decline4 The CTAL Dies in Bucharest5 The CTAL Completed Its Historic Mission15 The Road to 19681 PPS2 Against the Current3 On the Final Campaign Trail4 Schism in the Party5 1968Epilogue: Testament and TestimoniesBibliography and Works CitedIndexIllustrations

"Spenser provides a highly readable portrait of Lombardo Toledano, deftly navigating the complexities of Mexican domestic politics and global ideological crosscurrents. She is remarkably balanced, giving us insights into her subjects worldview while not hesitating to present him in a critical light. [...] In Combat offers a clear and coherent view of a figure who stood at the heart of Mexicos twentieth century."Tony wood, Princeton University, in: HAHR (February, 2022), doi 10.1215/00182168-9497668there is no doubt that Spenser has written a tome that will be cited for years to come. This work will prove useful not only to scholars interested in Lombardo Toledano himself but also to those who seek to learn more about postrevolutionary Mexico, Latin American labor movements, and even the transnational influence of the Soviet Union.Nathan Ellstrand, Loyola University Chicago, in: Humanities and Social Sciences Online (May, 2021) [Full review]