The Spanish military officer Modesto de la Torre arrived in New Spain in the spring of 1821 with Juan O'Donojú, the last Spanish imperial official prior to Mexico's independence. During his stay, de la Torre maintained a diary of his activities, recording details of his travels from Spain to Mexico and back via Cuba. As one might expect, given de la Torre's position, much of the diary focused on the politics and personalities of Mexico's independence war as it reached its conclusion. Claudia Guarisco first encountered the diary in the Lilly Library at Indiana University. Recognizing the manuscript's value to those interested in understanding the complex last stages of Mexico's journey to independence, Guarisco guided it to publication.

Guarisco provides essential biographical, bibliographical, and chronological details, but this work goes well beyond a skillfully edited and contextualized version of de la Torre's diary made available to a broader audience. An “introductory study” includes insightful analysis of the diary, pointing readers to the ways in which de la Torre's words can help us to understand such themes as the construction of creole patriotism and Iberian enlightenment-era masculinity. The result is a welcome addition to publications on the independence process in Spanish America.