Waking the Dictator is a study of federalism in late-nineteenth-century Veracruz State. It is also a politico-military analysis and an evaluation of social-revolutionary relations in the epoch of the Porfiriato and the Mexican Revolution. Koth interprets the Mexican Revolution across two axes: one is the heightened struggle for federalism, i.e., the conflict between the state of Veracruz and the central government; and the other is the class struggle that was brought into sharp relief by the violent social and military upheaval.

Koth illustrates why and how, in 1927, President Plutarco Eli­as Calles crushed federalism, suppressed the aspirations of working classes, and co-opted a re-emergent Veracruz bourgeoisie. In Koth's view, the initial promises of the Mexican Revolution were never fulfilled. The old rancor born of elite control and the loss of federalism still brews not far beneath the surface of contemporary Mexican politics.This study is the first modern, comprehensive, and analytical history of the Porfiriato and Mexican Revolution in Veracruz.