Mariano Azuela's novel The Underdog, published in 1915, brought the story of the Mexican Revolution to a global audience and criticized the corruption that followed. It focuses on Demetrio Macias, a peasant who joins the revolution to save his family and becomes a successful revolutionary leader. The novel explores the important role of women during the revolution and portrays them in religious and social contexts. Caleb Carr's novel The Alienist takes place in 1890s New York City and features Theodore Roosevelt as the police commissioner investigating a serial killer. Carr aimed to realistically portray the psychology and culture of the time period based on historical research.

1. Azuela & Carr by Errol Farley

2. Mariano Azuela’sThis tale of the Mexican Revolution was published in 1915 and in 40 short years was globally recognized as the way it all went down. Speaking out against the corruption of post revolutionary Mexico, Azuela becomes a revolutionary himself with his book that brought the story of Mexico’s fight with the man for the right to be free to the world.

3. Demetrio MaciasThe leading character is Demetrio Macias, a naïve, peace-loving Indian who finds himself compelled to join the rebels to save his family. He becomes a successful soldier of the Revolution and eventually ends up leading a sizeable part of Pancho Villa's army. Part of the story concerns itself with Luis Cervantes' largely unsuccessful attempts to impart some ideological underpinnings to Macias and the other leaders of the struggle.

4. Underdog ThemeAzuela uses this war time atmosphere to describe just how important women in Mexico were at that time. Whether they were a part of the battles, or just a faint memory in a soldiers mind, the Mexican women ha a major impact on the revolution. Women in general, were portrayed in three ways through out the story. Women were related to religion in terms of the Virgin Mother. In Agipita’s hut, the Virgin Mother was held in high honor.

5. Caleb Carr’s Carr paints a delicate picture of being cold and damp in New York City with the hair standing up on the back of your neck because you can feel the killer lurking in the streets, waiting, for the next victim to fall beneath his knife.

6. Theodore RooseveltPlayed a part in this book as the Police Commissioner in NYC at the time of a killer being loose. I suppose Carr chose Teddy for the part because he knew he was a man that could get things done and use his intellect to overcome adversity. Teddy was the most badass president we have ever have and I’m glad his personality is commemorated in this book.

7. Alienist Theme "The one thing I wanted to show was that people back then are a lot more like people today than we realize," said Carr. Carr researched the science and literature of the time period. He noted "The biggest challenge was to study the psychological literature of that day so that none of my characters would not know more than they could have known in terms of psychology. We're talking about a time when Sigmund Frued had just published his first book."