A Gathering of Fugitives: American Political Expatriates in Mexico, 1948-1965 (review)
The vast majority of Americas who traveled to Mexico during the 1950s went for short stints as tourists. For them, Mexico was a land at once exotic yet equipped with the comforts of modern living. For a different, much smaller group of Americans during this same period, Mexico was not a tourist destination but an option of political flight. With McCarthyism and the ensuing anti-communist witch-hunts in full swing in the United States, Mexico had also become a land of exile. Diana Anhalt offers a lively and intimate portrait of these involuntary expatriates. In turn, she reminds us that Mexico invoked a multitude of images for North Americans beyond that of a mere vacationland.