Just how far would you go to seek justice? Would you be willing to defy authority and social convention in the most provocative way possible? What might you possibly bring yourself to do once, briefly, and what forever remains off limits as unthinkable? Could you push yourself a little bit farther if you had lost everything and had nothing more to lose?

Before answering, consider the case of the Movement of 400 Pueblos of Veracruz. To protest the 1992 seizure of their land and seek its return, they demonstrated naked daily in Mexico City, often three times a day, for six and a half years starting in the spring of 2002. Using their only weapon—their naked bodies—these poor, mostly indigenous peasants (campesinos) from the State of Veracruz finally prevailed in recovering their land late in 2008.

Documented in this book is a unique eyewitness account of the climatic events of the seventh and final year of protests. It is an amazing true tale of unbelievable courage and fortitude in the face of seemingly impossible odds. No whining, no complaining, no blaming; just extreme direct action to right the wrong done against them while maintaining their pride and dignity.

Where others would not even try, they refused to back down in the face of a long series of intransigent government officials. Undaunted by cold rain and the curious stares of strangers, they conducted the most extreme and relentless daily mass naked protest in history—year after year—until they achieved their goal. Showing that they have nothing more to lose and nothing to hide, they danced naked in the streets to shame the government into hearing their claim. Written with the cooperation of members of the Movement, it is a sympathetic tribute to brave people, featuring never-to-be-seen-again scenes of raw defiance and boldness.

While the book is primarily pictorial, a historical background to the land dispute is provided, including the events concurrent with the 2008 demonstrations, up to the death of the government’s chief negotiator and the subsequent final resolution. To illustrate their harsh life, the demonstrators’ encampment, since removed, is portrayed. Emphasis, however, is placed on documenting the two series of persistent demonstrations conducted in 2008, as witnessed and photographed by the author. First are the boisterous mass protests held for hours at a time, at peak traffic, on the widest street in Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma. This is followed by the completely uninhibited demonstrations on Avenida Insurgentes Centro that daily filled the block-long “stage” in front of the Monument to the Mother with hundreds of defiant naked dancing protestors.

ForeWord Clarion Review:

Four Stars (out of Five)

Publc demonstrations are commonplace in the Mexico City, but nude and scantily cladprotesters wearing politician’s faces emblazoned across loincloths are startling anywhereon earth, especially in a nation where modesty and Catholic mores are the norm. Thissensitive and interesting photo essay on the 400 Pueblos members explains how a bunchof poor farmers ended up dancing and passing out literature to passersby while naked ornearly so.

In 1992, the residents of several villages in the state of Veracruz who had farmedpublic lands for a decade were abruptly ordered to move by the local authorities. Twice ayear for the next ten years, the farm families, organized as the 400 Pueblos Movement,traveled to the Mexican capital and lived in tent villages between daily protests on theelegant, shop-lined Paseo de la Reforma. In 2002, the same Veracruz Governor who hadordered the removal of the pueblos from their lands was elected to the Federal Senate. Toincrease the pressure on the central government, the protesters decided to use their onlyremaining resource, their own bodies, to get attention for their cause. Until they finallyachieved land reforms and other concessions six and a half years later, the gutsiestmembers of the 400 Pueblos protested nude or wearing only underwear or a loincloth.They did so twice a day, every day, no matter the weather. Women climbed up onplatforms, men posed on homemade crucifixes, and drummers accompanied a phalanx ofbronzed, chanting farmers of all ages to draw attention to their cause.

Author Victor Allen documented the last six months of the 400 Pueblos protestand he has produced a respectful, fascinating portrait of an intriguing social movement.These folks transformed from the humblest members of the country to some of its mostpowerful and determined citizens. They were willing to do anything within the bounds ofnon-violent protest to advance their cause, and they risked the social taboo of publicnudity to do so.

Allen’s photos are not prurient—they focus on the strength of weather-lined faces,hard-working hands and determined expressions—but this book is not intended forchildren. It includes many shots of naked hindquarters and some full-frontal nudes arevisible in the background of several photos. This is not art photography (some images aredecidedly unsharp) as much as photojournalistic documentation of a little-known butinteresting and successful social experiment. Allen’s captions and text are clearlysympathetic toward his subject, and the whole makes for an absorbing read.The book includes a few pages of portraits of clothed protestors just before theydisrobed for their scheduled protest. These images provide an inspired contrast with thevigor of the nude protest shots.

Some photos of the Mexican police officers surroundingthe protesters would have been interesting to see, and Allen missed an opportunity toshow a comparison of the defenseless protesters contrasted with fully-armed riot police.This book would be informative for readers interested in Mexican culture andhistory, grassroots organizing, or politics. It gives some well-deserved attention to alargely unknown social protest movement that started with nothing but dramaticallychanged the participants’ lives for the better.

Just how far would you go to seek justice? Would you be willing to defy authority and social convention in the most provocative way possible? What might you possibly bring yourself to do once, briefly, and what forever remains off limits as unthinkable? Could you push yourself a little bit farther if you had lost everything and had nothing more to lose?

Before answering, consider the case of the Movement of 400 Pueblos of Veracruz. To protest the 1992 seizure of their land and seek its return, they demonstrated naked daily in Mexico City, often three times a day, for six and a half years starting in the spring of 2002. Using their only weapon—their naked bodies—these poor, mostly indigenous peasants (campesinos) from the State of Veracruz finally prevailed in recovering their land late in 2008.

Documented in this book is a unique eyewitness account of the climatic events of the seventh and final year of protests. It is an amazing true tale of unbelievable courage and fortitude in the face of seemingly impossible odds. No whining, no complaining, no blaming; just extreme direct action to right the wrong done against them while maintaining their pride and dignity.

Where others would not even try, they refused to back down in the face of a long series of intransigent government officials. Undaunted by cold rain and the curious stares of strangers, they conducted the most extreme and relentless daily mass naked protest in history—year after year—until they achieved their goal. Showing that they have nothing more to lose and nothing to hide, they danced naked in the streets to shame the government into hearing their claim. Written with the cooperation of members of the Movement, it is a sympathetic tribute to brave people, featuring never-to-be-seen-again scenes of raw defiance and boldness.

While the book is primarily pictorial, a historical background to the land dispute is provided, including the events concurrent with the 2008 demonstrations, up to the death of the government’s chief negotiator and the subsequent final resolution. To illustrate their harsh life, the demonstrators’ encampment, since removed, is portrayed. Emphasis, however, is placed on documenting the two series of persistent demonstrations conducted in 2008, as witnessed and photographed by the author. First are the boisterous mass protests held for hours at a time, at peak traffic, on the widest street in Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma. This is followed by the completely uninhibited demonstrations on Avenida Insurgentes Centro that daily filled the block-long “stage” in front of the Monument to the Mother with hundreds of defiant naked dancing protestors.

ForeWord Clarion Review:

Four Stars (out of Five)

Publc demonstrations are commonplace in the Mexico City, but nude and scantily cladprotesters wearing politician’s faces emblazoned across loincloths are startling anywhereon earth, especially in a nation where modesty and Catholic mores are the norm. Thissensitive and interesting photo essay on the 400 Pueblos members explains how a bunchof poor farmers ended up dancing and passing out literature to passersby while naked ornearly so.

In 1992, the residents of several villages in the state of Veracruz who had farmedpublic lands for a decade were abruptly ordered to move by the local authorities. Twice ayear for the next ten years, the farm families, organized as the 400 Pueblos Movement,traveled to the Mexican capital and lived in tent villages between daily protests on theelegant, shop-lined Paseo de la Reforma. In 2002, the same Veracruz Governor who hadordered the removal of the pueblos from their lands was elected to the Federal Senate. Toincrease the pressure on the central government, the protesters decided to use their onlyremaining resource, their own bodies, to get attention for their cause. Until they finallyachieved land reforms and other concessions six and a half years later, the gutsiestmembers of the 400 Pueblos protested nude or wearing only underwear or a loincloth.They did so twice a day, every day, no matter the weather. Women climbed up onplatforms, men posed on homemade crucifixes, and drummers accompanied a phalanx ofbronzed, chanting farmers of all ages to draw attention to their cause.

Author Victor Allen documented the last six months of the 400 Pueblos protestand he has produced a respectful, fascinating portrait of an intriguing social movement.These folks transformed from the humblest members of the country to some of its mostpowerful and determined citizens. They were willing to do anything within the bounds ofnon-violent protest to advance their cause, and they risked the social taboo of publicnudity to do so.

Allen’s photos are not prurient—they focus on the strength of weather-lined faces,hard-working hands and determined expressions—but this book is not intended forchildren. It includes many shots of naked hindquarters and some full-frontal nudes arevisible in the background of several photos. This is not art photography (some images aredecidedly unsharp) as much as photojournalistic documentation of a little-known butinteresting and successful social experiment. Allen’s captions and text are clearlysympathetic toward his subject, and the whole makes for an absorbing read.The book includes a few pages of portraits of clothed protestors just before theydisrobed for their scheduled protest. These images provide an inspired contrast with thevigor of the nude protest shots.

Some photos of the Mexican police officers surroundingthe protesters would have been interesting to see, and Allen missed an opportunity toshow a comparison of the defenseless protesters contrasted with fully-armed riot police.This book would be informative for readers interested in Mexican culture andhistory, grassroots organizing, or politics. It gives some well-deserved attention to alargely unknown social protest movement that started with nothing but dramaticallychanged the participants’ lives for the better.

Playa del Carmen: Town In Search of a Village is a travel guide to the fastest growing town in Mexico and the Caribbean during the 1990’s. In addition to recommendations on hotels, bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and short descriptions of many towns on the Yucatan Peninsula, the book offers advice from a not-so-green gringo on how tourists might enjoy themselves and avoid problems while vacationing in playa and its environs. The book is also an outsiders’ spin on the social and economic challenges which face a small village and its residents when it rapidly becomes a bustling tourist town in an evolving nation.

Tantalizing encounters from around the world, many of them dating from an age of innocence. The world was sweeter, and the remote was more distant. The title piece, and the two that follow, are set in northern Mexico. We then travel to the United States, Greece and the elaborately interconnected Aegean and Mediterranean worlds, to Egypt, Venice, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta. And then to the Pacific paradise of French Polynesia, as it was, as it has become. The book ends in Austria, with an incident originated on Easter Island. And so Carol Miller reveals not just places and people but topics as well: the Olympic Games, Lindbergh, Gaugain, gold mining, belly dancing, volcanoes, conquest, cunning, missionary verve, the beginnings of banking and trade, the age of exploration, the history of art and archaeology. �I have written,� she says, �the kind of book I myself like to read.� Delicious writing, evocative descriptions, a great deal of learning and knowledge. Take this one along on your next flight, keep it by the bed, have it with you on vacation.

Tantalizing encounters from around the world, many of them dating from an age of innocence. The world was sweeter, and the remote was more distant. The title piece, and the two that follow, are set in northern Mexico. We then travel to the United States, Greece and the elaborately interconnected Aegean and Mediterranean worlds, to Egypt, Venice, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta. And then to the Pacific paradise of French Polynesia, as it was, as it has become. The book ends in Austria, with an incident originated on Easter Island. And so Carol Miller reveals not just places and people but topics as well: the Olympic Games, Lindbergh, Gaugain, gold mining, belly dancing, volcanoes, conquest, cunning, missionary verve, the beginnings of banking and trade, the age of exploration, the history of art and archaeology. �I have written,� she says, �the kind of book I myself like to read.� Delicious writing, evocative descriptions, a great deal of learning and knowledge. Take this one along on your next flight, keep it by the bed, have it with you on vacation.