For almost three thousand years Mexico was the site of some of the most advanced Indian civilizations, most notably the Aztec and Mayan. In many ways, these civilizations were more advanced than their European contemporaries, especially in such spheres as astronomy, mathematics, and city organization. Upon seeing the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, for the first time, Spanish explorer Bernal Díaz del Castillo was awed by its beauty and confessed he had never seen a city in Spain that could match it. However, Díaz del Castillo's arrival coincided with that of Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico who captured the Aztec capital in 1521. Since then, it has been known as Mexico City.

Mexico's struggle—and eventual success—through the subsequent years to become an independent country is chronicled in the second edition of Historical Dictionary of Mexico. It covers the history of Mexico from its great Indian civilizations to the controversial election of Felipe Calderón in 2006. This is done through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a map, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on some of the more significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.