Mexico: Day of the Dead (TRIH ep 264)

1910 · Resource

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the history and modern mythology of Mexico's Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos). They challenge popular assumptions that the festival is an unbroken pre‑Columbian tradition, tracing key elements—sugar skulls, pan de muerto, altars—to post‑Conquest and especially 19th–20th century Spanish and Mexican developments. The episode highlights 19th century satirical imagery (José Guadalupe Posada's La Catrina), the influence of Spanish All Souls customs,...

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Around 1910

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