Caribbean and the Atlantic / Caribbean / Puerto Rico / In Depth in Puerto Rico

Recommended Books in Puerto Rico

History

  • The Caribbean People, by Reginald Honychurch. In three volumes, this is a well-balanced account written by one of the so-called new historians of the Caribbean.
  • Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History, by Artura Morales. Carrion This is one of the best major overviews of Puerto Rican history and culture.
  • The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History, by Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jimenez de Wagenheim. A breezy and engrossing, yet intimate and heartfelt, history of the Puerto Rican people, the book is an essential primer.
  • Sugar and Slavery in Puerto Rico: The Plantation Economy of Ponce, 1800-1850, by Francisco A. Scarano. Scarano produces a scholarly study of an agrarian region of Puerto Rico far removed from the Spanish-controlled capital of San Juan.

Politics

  • Puerto Rico: A Colonial Experiment, by Ramon Carr. Carr offers one of the most insightful views of island politics, which have been called the national religion of Puerto Rico.
  • Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World, by Jose Trias Monge. Written by one of Puerto Rico's brightest legal minds and a former Supreme Court justice, his argument about the true nature of the U.S.-Puerto Rico relationship continues to open eyes and carry weight.
  • The United States and Puerto Rico: Breaking the Bonds of Economic Colonialism, by Roland I. Perusse. This book traces the history of trade relations in Puerto Rico, the second-largest Western trading partner of the United States, after Canada. It is a cultural and economic survey with a strongly politicized point of view.