The Forts of Old San Juan: San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico

by U.S. National Park Service, Raymond Baker (Editor)

Tells the story of the evolution of the defenses of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the role they played in helping to safeguard Spanish possessions in the Caribbean from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Genres: History

80 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1997

Reviews

[Paul Schulzetenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up during my trip to El Morro, the largest fort in San Juan. Reviewing it is a bit silly at first glance, as it's just a souvenir book. In fact, I'm not sure if it gets distribution outside the park.

The book, however, goes well beyond what I expected of it. It's only about 80 pages, yet it does an excellent job of establishing the fortifications as historical landmark. This is no dry recounting of measurements and dates, but instead is a well-contextualized account of the struggles and culture that made San Juan a major focal point for centuries. There's figures, illustrations, and maps galore.

If you happen to be in San Juan, and are looking for an overview, you could do a lot worse than this.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

While in Puerto Rico I enjoyed visiting Cristobol and El Morro forts. I bought this book because I knew it would remind me of the trip and I thought I might get more history of the forts than I had gotten during our time there. There was some great information and some interesting pictures. However what I wasn't expecting was the history on all the attacks and the generals that led those attacks and I found that a bit boring. But overall it really was a nice read.