Jenkins of Mexico

How a Southern Farm Boy Became a Mexican Magnate

Nonfiction, History, Americas, Mexico, United States, 20th Century, Biography & Memoir, Historical
Cover of the book Jenkins of Mexico by Andrew Paxman, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andrew Paxman ISBN: 9780190455767
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: April 3, 2017
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Andrew Paxman
ISBN: 9780190455767
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: April 3, 2017
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

In the city of Puebla there lived an American who made himself into the richest man in Mexico. Driven by a steely desire to prove himself-first to his wife's family, then to Mexican elites-William O. Jenkins rose from humble origins in Tennessee to build a business empire in a country energized by industrialization and revolutionary change. In Jenkins of Mexico, Andrew Paxman presents the first biography of this larger-than-life personality. When the decade-long Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, Jenkins preyed on patrician property owners and bought up substantial real estate. He suffered a scare with a firing squad and then a kidnapping by rebels, an episode that almost triggered a US invasion. After the war he owned textile mills, developed Mexico's most productive sugar plantation, and helped finance the rise of a major political family, the Ávila Camachos. During the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s-50s, he lorded over the film industry with his movie theater monopoly and key role in production. By means of Mexico's first major hostile takeover, he bought the country's second-largest bank. Reputed as an exploiter of workers, a puppet-master of politicians, and Mexico's wealthiest industrialist, Jenkins was the gringo that Mexicans loved to loathe. After his wife's death, he embraced philanthropy and willed his entire fortune to a foundation named for her, which co-founded two prestigious universities and funded projects to improve the lives of the poor in his adopted country. Using interviews with Jenkins' descendants, family papers, and archives in Puebla, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Washington, Jenkins of Mexico tells a contradictory tale of entrepreneurship and monopoly, fearless individualism and cozy deals with power-brokers, embrace of US-style capitalism and political anti-Americanism, and Mexico's transformation from semi-feudal society to emerging economic power.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the city of Puebla there lived an American who made himself into the richest man in Mexico. Driven by a steely desire to prove himself-first to his wife's family, then to Mexican elites-William O. Jenkins rose from humble origins in Tennessee to build a business empire in a country energized by industrialization and revolutionary change. In Jenkins of Mexico, Andrew Paxman presents the first biography of this larger-than-life personality. When the decade-long Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, Jenkins preyed on patrician property owners and bought up substantial real estate. He suffered a scare with a firing squad and then a kidnapping by rebels, an episode that almost triggered a US invasion. After the war he owned textile mills, developed Mexico's most productive sugar plantation, and helped finance the rise of a major political family, the Ávila Camachos. During the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s-50s, he lorded over the film industry with his movie theater monopoly and key role in production. By means of Mexico's first major hostile takeover, he bought the country's second-largest bank. Reputed as an exploiter of workers, a puppet-master of politicians, and Mexico's wealthiest industrialist, Jenkins was the gringo that Mexicans loved to loathe. After his wife's death, he embraced philanthropy and willed his entire fortune to a foundation named for her, which co-founded two prestigious universities and funded projects to improve the lives of the poor in his adopted country. Using interviews with Jenkins' descendants, family papers, and archives in Puebla, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Washington, Jenkins of Mexico tells a contradictory tale of entrepreneurship and monopoly, fearless individualism and cozy deals with power-brokers, embrace of US-style capitalism and political anti-Americanism, and Mexico's transformation from semi-feudal society to emerging economic power.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Shortchanged by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book The Prophet and the Reformer by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Lone Star Justice by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book David Lewin's Morgengruß by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Exploring Nanosyntax by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Portfolio Theory and Management by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Homeward Bound by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book The Civil War by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Are You Alone Wise? by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Commonplace Witnessing by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Toward a Humanist Justice by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Raciolinguistics by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book The Trouble with Lawyers by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Rethinking the Soviet Experience by Andrew Paxman
Cover of the book Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know by Andrew Paxman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy