Mexico is home to planet earth’s largest natural crystals, its deepest water-filed sink hole, and second richest man, telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim. The country ranks first in the world for diversity of reptile species and the incidence of diabetes, while placing second only to the United States in the consumption of soft drinks.

Mexican history is as tortured and crooked (in both senses of the word) as an ox cart trail – unexpected turns around every corner, replete with bumps and declivities.  The casual reader of general Mexican history will find it difficult keeping up with the list of Mexico’s principal characters over the centuries, now expanding, then suddenly contracting due to assassinations, exiles, military defeats, and alliances gone awry. Oaxacan writer Bruce Stores solves that problem by employing a simple technique used for millennia by the local indigenous peoples:  storytelling.

Richard Rhoda and Tony Burton’s “Geo-Mexico: the Geography and Dynamics of Modern Mexico” is scheduled for release January 9. The book’s kick-off is the focus of several events beginning with a Monday January 11, 12:30 p.m. presentation on “Man and Nature in Mexico” by Burton and Rhoda at the weekly ACA Eco Talks on the back patio of Lake Chapala Society (LCS) in Ajijic.

With his latest book, Savage Capitalism and the Myth of Democracy, Michael Hogan takes his place among writers and analysts, such as Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Paul Krugman, and Amy Goodman, who analyze complex political, economic, cultural, and educational issues in the Americas and around the world.