The Underdogs

Los de abajo (The Underdogs) is Mariano Azuela’s unforgettable novel of the Mexican Revolution (1910–17). It is widely regarded as the best Mexican novel about the war and was published during the armed struggle. This Norton Critical Edition is based on a new translation by acclaimed scholars Ilan Stavans and Anna More. It is accompanied by Stavans’ introduction and explanatory footnotes. Numerous artists and intellectuals have commented on The Underdogs, and the Norton Critical Edition includes a judicious selection of these comments to help place the novel in its historical context. The eyewitness account of John Reed is joined by the assessments of Anita Brenner and Octavio Paz. A 1994 letter by Subcomandante Marcos to Mexico’s then-president Ernesto Zedillo points to the Mexican Revolution as an unfinished event, one that brought little relief to large segments of the country’s population. Five wide-ranging critical assessments of Mariano Azuela and The Underdogs are provided by Waldo Frank, Harriet de Onís, Luis Leal, Ilan Stavans, and Clive Griffin. A selected bibliography is also included.