MEXICO ( Hachette World Guides)

Paris, France: Hachette, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very good. Near fine first edition. With original glassene jacket and slipcase. A bright copy complete with folding maps and plans in rear. Series issued under the direction of Francis Ambriere. This volume is an extensive guide to Mexico published in the year of the Olympic Games. The 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City were the most politically charged Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin. Ten days before the Games were to open, students protesting the Mexican government’s use of funds for the Olympics rather than for social programs were surrounded in the Plaza of Three Cultures by the army and fired upon. More than 200 protesters were killed and over a thousand injured. At the victory ceremony for the men’s 200-metre run, Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos (gold and bronze medalists, respectively) stood barefoot, each with head bowed and a single black-gloved fist raised during the national anthem. The athletes described the gesture as a tribute to their African American heritage and a protest of the living conditions of minorities in the United States.