The Underdogs, hailed as the greatest account of the Mexican Revolution, narrates the story of a charismatic peasant farmer’s part in the rebellion against Porfirio Díaz.

Azuela’s novel is a classic portrayal of the turmoil of the first great revolution of the twentieth century: the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

The Underdogs depicts the base human passions, anarchy and idealism, the valor and nobility of the people, their revolutionary zeal, and finally, the political disillusionment that has come to characterize most of the social upheavals of the twentieth century.

MARIANO AZUELA (1873–1952) was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his novels of the Mexican Revolution. He served during the revolution as a doctor with the forces of Pancho Villa, giving him direct exposure to the events and characters that appear in his masterwork, The Underdogs.