The Face of Pancho Villa: A History in Photographs and Words

“There is no doubt that history is written by the victors,” spoke a eulogizer at Pancho Villa’s funeral, “but it is also true that legends are written by the people. For that reason, the name of Francisco Villa has remained enshrined forever in the heart of the poor.”

Yes, Pancho Villa is a legend, but he is also a mystery and a bundle of contradictions. This book, coupling noted historian Friedrich Katz’s text with forty-two archival photographs, provides a deep insight into this revolutionary who was a hero for some, a villain for others. Hero or villain, he changed the history of Mexico.

Pancho Villa has never been forgotten by the people—los de abajo (the underdogs)—but for too long academia has belittled his achievements and importance. Yet the scholarship of Friedrich Katz has forced Pancho Villa back into historical conversations as a pivotal and complex figure in the Mexican Revolution. Villa did more during the armed phases of the Mexican Revolution to overthrow the Diaz and Huerta regimes than any other Mexican leader. Yet unlike most of his peers, he came from the lowest rungs of Mexican society and lacked formal education.

Friedrich Katz is the preeminent historian of the Mexican Revolution. His book The Life and Times of Pancho Villa shifted the focus of scholarship on the revolution to Pancho Villa and the northern armies.