Description
Book SynopsisInvestigates the popular canonization of a saint in Tijuana, asking what triggered the devotion and considering local, national, international, geographical, environmental, cultural, and psychological aspects of the event.
Trade Review“
Juan Soldado is a rich, exuberant, and sensitive account of the making of a folk saint in Tijuana. It is based on extensive use of newspapers and remarkable interviews with eyewitnesses to events in the 1930s.”—William A. Christian Jr., author of
Visionaries: The Spanish Republic and the Reign of Christ“
Juan Soldado is a true cannot-put-it-down read that combines deep research, strong narrative, and remarkable insight about how a spontaneous religious devotion comes into being and consolidates itself. I know of no other work that portrays the elements of this particular sort of religious belief—its spontaneity, its stubbornness in the face of the Church’s indifference, and the matter-of-fact way it is practiced in daily life.”—Eric Van Young, author of
The Other Rebellion: Popular Violence, Ideology, and the Mexican Struggle for Independence, 1810–1821Table of ContentsPreface xi
Acknowledgments xv
I. The Crime
1. Notions of Justice 3
2. Aftermath 51
II. Circumstances
3. Tijuana 75
4. Mexico for the Mexicans 104
5. Riding the Roller Coaster 137
III. Belief
6. Witness to Execution 173
7. Criminals and Saints 201
8. Closer to God 249
9. John the Soldier 275
Notes 293
Sources 311
Index 327
