Beezley recalls Mexico's historic past during the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, from 1876 to 1911, with the Easter-time Judas burnings that become a primary focus of the strife during these years, the technology, as well as a large number of sports events one for example is horse racing. Horseracing has a long history in Mexico. It's traced back to the day Hernan Cortes landed in Veracruz in 1519. He also includes baseball, mountain climbing, bicycling, football and all kinds of other sports. Bullfight is an event that happened in Mexico. It represented a part of Mexico's Spanish heritage. It was introduced in the 1500's. Baseball has its shadowy beginnings of history in Mexico. Abner Doubleday introduced it to the south of the border. Bicycles were first shipped from Paris and Boston to Mexico City in 1869. Mountain climbing was one these sports too. The mountain that was climbed was Popocatepetl. The cone reached 17,520 feet above sea level. These are just some of the many other sports events that happened in Mexico. What he basically does in the book is he describes in detail how all these sporting events came to be. He mentions how they start who started them and where it took place. As well as important information about the event he is describing. Also in this book Beezley mentions Judas festivals, Judas in Mexico, Judas burnings and holy week and other celebrations. He describes the way Judas relates to the rest of the book. At the end of the book Beezley summarizes the aftermath of all this chaos. .
William Beezley has extensively recounted, at least in the "modernizing" sectors of society, a style of thought and behavior, which Beezley labels the "Porfirian" persuasion. As Mexicans became enabled of progress in the United States and Europe, they revealed attitudes, notions, and processes, which represented a merger of a desire to appear as advanced as their role models with a move toward adaptations to the rhythm and values of an increasingly technological world.
