Mexico, with some 90 million people, holds a special place in Latin America. It is a large, complex hybrid, a bridge between North and South America, between the ancient and the modern, and between the developed and the developing worlds. Mexico's importance to the United States cannot be overstated. The two countries share historical, economic, and cultural bonds that continue to evolve. This book offers students and general readers a deeper understanding of Mexico's dynamism: its wealth of history, institutions, religion, cultural output, leisure, and social customs.

PETER STANDISH is Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures at East Carolina University and the author of numerous works on Latin America and Mexico, including co-authoring Culture and Customs of Mexico (Greenwood, 2004), as well as serving as the series editor for Greenwood's Culture and Customs of Latin America and the Caribbean series.