Paz grew up during the period of the Mexican Revolution in a family that sympathized with the revolutionary forces. The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 in protest against the reelection of President Porfirio Díaz, who had ruled the country since 1876. Díaz officially resigned in 1911, and the revolutionary leader Francisco Madero assumed the presidency. However, the war continued until 1917 as various coups and counter-revolutions were carried out between factions of the revolutionary movement. In 1913, Madero was deposed and assassinated, and Victoriano Huerta assumed the Presidency. In 1914, Huerta was deposed and Venustiano Carranza declared himself president. Anarchy and violence ensued as revolutionary leaders battled over control of the presidency. With the support of the United States, Carranza was once again put in office and oversaw the writing of the Constitution of 1917, which was an attempt to incorporate the demands of many factions that had...