''Robbery Under Law'' (1939) is a

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

travel book The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In ...

by the British writer

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

. It depicts the

Leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

, and the persecution of

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, under

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...

, in 1938. Waugh's trip to Mexico was financed by the Cowdray Estate, which held extensive interests in Mexican oil and had suffered heavy losses due to the nationalization.Kostopulos, Dan S. "Mexico Imagined: ''Robbery Under Law'' and the Lessons of Mexican Travel". In Flor, Carlos Villar & Davis, Robert Murray, eds. (2005)
''Waugh Without End: New Trends in Evelyn Waugh Studies''
pp. 116-17. Peter Lang AG. There is another book of the same name by the author

John Armstrong Chaloner John "Archie" Armstrong Chaloner (né Chanler; October 10, 1862 – June 1, 1935) was an American writer and activist, known for his catch phrase "Who's looney now?". Early life Chaloner was born John Armstrong Chanler on October 10, 1862 to Mar ...

Critical reception

In contrast to

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

's '' The Lawless Roads'', this work of 1930s travel writing found little favor in its time. One critic called it "polemical in content, rancorous in tone — by much the dreariest of augh'stravel books". However, at least one critic takes the opposite stance, calling it "

he English He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

language's greatest single traditionalist credo."Stove, R.J.
''A Grief Unobserved''
The American Conservative, December 2011.

Notes

References

*Waugh, Evelyn. ''Robbery Under Law: The Mexican Object-Lesson'', Chapman and Hall, 1939. Blue cloth hardcover. The Akadine Press, 1999. Blue paperback, A Common Reader Edition. {{Evelyn Waugh Books by Evelyn Waugh 1939 non-fiction books British travel books Books about Mexico Chapman & Hall books English non-fiction books