Miguel Fuentes (ed.), Rapa Nui y la Compañía Explotadora, 1895–1953 (Hanga Roa: Rapanui Press, 2013), pp. 405, $25.00, pb.

Abstract

machines tells a story of widespread diffusion into cities and countryside, but continuing problems of maintenance and upkeep, even with these relatively simple machines. A chapter on brewing and beer-bottling illustrates the peculiar conditions in Monterrey which allowed for industrial development, and the gradual, hit-and-miss process by which Mexicans occasionally adapted foreign technology to local conditions. By contrast, the chapter on the use of chemicals in silver mining illustrates a growing and stark dependence on foreign expertise, particularly poignant since Mexico could have become an innovator in mining techniques. All three casesstudies are elegantly constructed. Beatty pieces together fragmented evidence from trade publications, travel writing, national, regional, business and diplomatic archives, and his own earlier work on patents; company histories and biographical sketches ably link global trends with local responses. The final third of the book explains Mexico's uneven assimilation of technology and expertise in general terms. A fragmented geography with limited coal and water, and a surfeit of cheap imports (rather than the often cited shallowness of domestic markets) were powerful factors. In addition, the elite-dominated Porfirian political economy obstructed long-term investments in education and distributed opportunities unequally. Lurking in the background somewhere, but hazy and largely unexplored, is racismconceptualised narrowly as elite prejudices and 'cultural preferences' rather than as something rooted in social structures and institutions (p. ). This book touches on many themes in modern Mexican history, and will stimulate further research. Beatty urges others to fill out the picture with more firm-level studies, but the book deserves a readership well beyond economic historians. The clear prose should help the book secure one. Social and cultural historians will find empirical leads and ideas to develop. For example, we learn how the sewing machine appeared in the press as a symbol of women's liberationor exploitation; it also changed the sights and sounds of everyday life, interrupted sleep patterns, and served as a focal point for community gossip; beer-drinking rapidly increased, and went hand in hand with other changes: 'ready-made suits, railroads, and middle-class professionalism' (p. ). Beatty's argument that popular attitudes were essentially receptive to new technologies is of broad significance. As he shows, cases of outright Luddism existed but, as far as we know, were unusual. The analysis implicitly raises more questions: Did other kinds of technology follow the patterns Beatty identifies? To the extent that the Revolution impinges on the story, it is largely a destructive force. Perhaps if we shift the focus to the military or communications, say, might the Revolution be seen as diffusing as well as destroying technology and know-how? Mexican (and particularly Porfirian) economic history has seen considerable growth and innovation recently, and Beatty's book ...