Puerto Rico Books

Well he is great and all of his books are good, too bad they haven't been put for sale here.

I WAS IMPRESSED AT ALL THE INFORMATION AND CALL OF ALLTHE DIFERENT FROGS IN THE ISLAND. I HOPE THE AUTHOR REPUBLISHES A NEW EDITION.

Our handbell choir took an 8 day tour of Puerto Rico and this proved to be the best map we had, and the easiest to follow. We bought 5 copies - one for each vehicle! Great price and great layout. While it is in Spanish, that is actually a good thing while you are looking for road signs. Everything you visit goes by the Spanish name anyway so it really doesn't matter what language your map is in.

I have extended family living in Puerto Rico, which I have visited frequently for over twenty years. Almost always, I rent a car, because it is the only way to get around. Unless you are very familiar with the island, finding your way around can be very hard. That was at least until I found this map. I tried the other maps, laminated or otherwise. But, roads in Puerto Rico are constructed and re-constructed so frequently, that even if the map is just five years old, it is already too old to be useful.

Getting lost is no fun and you can waste valuable vacation time. This map shows the tiniest of streets you never dreamed your car could possibly fit on, much less anyone would care to put on a map. At the same time, if you just want a map of Old San Juan and feel like you don't need something that covers all of Puerto Rico, this map still delivers with large zoomed-in maps of Old San Juan and other important tourist areas, highlighting key tourist attractions, that not even Fodors knows about.

It's been 102 years since the United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, and perhaps more telling that Puerto Ricans are no more sure of their future today than they were in 1898. Anne Nelson's book is an extremely good read which reveals much of the complexities of the Puerto Rican existance under two flags, the root causes of the independence movement in Puerto Rico, and provides a telling example of the mainland's perception of Puerto Ricans over the last 100 years, mixed in with the scenes of a brutal murder of two young idealists at the hands of the Puerto Rican police, with, some say, the knowledge of the FBI. Ms. Nelson has done her homework well, I found her assessment of what we Puerto Ricans call the "Ay Bendito!" to be right on the mark. She writes: "Puerto Rican... have a gentle note of self-deprecation to their national humor; if anything, their stories involve the smallest farm, the slowest horse, the shortest tree." If you like U.S. History, then you will enjoy the first half of this book as it relates to the Spanish-American War, if you like true crime stories, then you will enjoy the second half of this book. It's a keeper, five stars just for the history portion alone.

"Murder Under Two Flags : The U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Cerro Maravilla Cover-Up," by Anne Nelson, was the inspiration for the 1990 film, "A Show of Force," and is an interesting, disturbing case study on the ugliness politics can be in Puerto Rico. The book, which revolves around the "Cerro Maravilla" incident that occurred on July 25, 1978, was the biggest political scandal to rock the U.S. Commonwealth ever. In the incident, two young independence-sympathizers were ambushed and brutally murdered by police forces. The police claimed that the two so-called "terrorists" were going to blow up a broadcast tower, while others doubted this claim.

After a heavy investigation, a senate hearing was held in Puerto Rico, where it was determined that a political cover-up was involved here. The pro-statehood governor at the time, Carlos Romero Barcelo, had been implicated of planning the murder of the two youths, in order to boost his sagging popularity two years before he was up for re-election. What was uncovered shattered the reputation of Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rican police, the FBI, and especially that of the New Progressive Party (also known as PNP in its' Spanish-acronym) who favors statehood for the island, even though statehood has been rejected in each and every political referendum since the U.S. took over.

Author Anne Nelson. first begins her book with a discussion of Puerto Rican history before the Spanish-American War of 1898, when Spain ceded the island to the United States. She goes on to discuss early U.S. relations and policies, a discussion and history on each of the island's main parties, and finally the "Cerro Maravilla' incident, which is a very disturbing chapter in the democratic history of the Americas. The use of photographs were interesting, and the chart showing the damage one of the bodies suffered (over 40 bullets and massive swelling due to continuous beatings) show that this was both a unusual and cruel way for two people to die, especially if they were unarmed.

Ms. Nelson, unbiased look at this scandal did open many eyes to the injustice many political-minorities not only in Puerto Rico but elsewhere (the PAN party in Mexico is a great example, especially after their rising star and presidential candidate Donald Luis Colosio was assassinated in 1991, reportedly by henchmen hired by the PRI party, who had ruled the country for over 70 years without any opposition). It would have been more interesting to see the actual photographs of the bodies at the murder scene, seeing that they had already appeared on the front page of the island's newspapers the day after the incident. In a turn of events, Romero Barcelo who had served as the island's non-voting representative in the U.S. Congress during much of the 1990's was defeated for re-election in the fall of 2000. People cited he Cerro Maravilla incident and his party's (PNP) massive corruption and cover-ups during the administration of PNP governor, Pedro Rosello, as the reasons he lost.

Overall, Ms. Nelson has written an excellent book on a topic that needed to be discussed. Americans must be aware that this scandal took place under a colony that is under the U.S. flag for the last 102 years. If democracy can exist on the mainland, why can't it in Puerto Rico. That is a question that must be answered, and after reading this book, you will probably come up with an appropriate answer.

This is a great book with excellent color photography!!! Nice variety of photos, focusing on architecture, people and natural scenery. Good historical background given.

A fascinating photo essay on the Old City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, this coffee-table view book makes a wonderful addition to anyone's library. The authors and photographers did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the Old City's Spanish-influenced architecture, which were all inspired by the Santa Cruz District of Seville, Spain (Seville was the capital of trade between Spain and her colonies due to it's location). The cobblestone streets, religious buildings, and fascinating faces that bring this treasure to life are all here. Truly it gave me memories of my beloved homeland and a longing in my heart to return soon.

Whether you buy it for yourself or as a gift, the book's great price and format (it's a paperback) are great reasons to purchase it. Once you buy it , I'm sure you will be longing plan a trip to the island and walk through time.

I am the editor of this book, so perhaps somewhat biased, but I believe it to be an intriguing portrait of Don Luis Munoz Marin, who pushed for Puerto Rico to achieve Commonwealth status and then served as the first governor of the Commonwealth. Not just a politician, he was also a poet, and excerpts from his poetry appear in the book. Since the author, a native of Puerto Rico, sets Munoz Marin's story in the context of his times, this is also an excellent introduction to the history and people of Puerto Rico in the 20th century. There are numerous black and white photographs as illustrations and further information in the back of the book--adults as well as children are likely to find it informative. But you don't have to take my word for it. I've got review quotes and a full-color picture of the jacket on my WWW site at http://www.interport.net/~hdu/munoz.htm

To anyone interested in the genesis and evolution of the political situation of Puerto Rico this book provides a comprehensive and accurate representation of the political struggles of the people of Puerto Rico. The book efficiently and effectively provides enough background on the political history of the Island to accurately portray the situation of Puerto Rico at the turn of the Century. Providing an adecuate frame within which to discuss the aftermath of the Hispano-American War. These accomplishments then provide the proper context to understand the significance of the political figure of Luis Munoz Marin in the present political condition, but more importantly on the political future of Puerto Rico. The period photographs provide the glue that holds this book together. To read of Munoz's concern for the welfare of his fellow countrymen cannot be completely appreciated, but for those pictures despicting the living conditions of the "jibaro." Perhaps one of the most realistic accounts of the struggles of the Puertorrican people through the eyes of one of the political giants of Latin America.

The single most depressing book I've ever read in my life. It's amazing because the book inspires you to get out and help others who are stuck in a hapless situation.

I'll quote the last paragraph in the book to give you an idea, if you're not interested then look no further.

"Only the river remained, murmuring, ever moving, ever restless, ever sounding, as though it dragged in its current the prolonged lament of an inconsolable grief, as though it carried dissolved in its waters the tears of a misfortune that no one wipes dry, that no one comforts...that no one knows about!"

Phenomenal book.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you what the book is about. You should read it! It is that good! I will tell you some of its themes. Haves vs Have nots, incest, rape, murder, poverty, love, romance, all throwned into a presssure cooker titled "La charca" to create one of the most touching, poigant stories you will ever read. It has a lot of twist and turns which in the end left me completely blown away.

By far one of the most quintessential books to the true and unpolluted understanding of the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. The book's strength is the extremely well documented and cited references. Buy this book and everything that say Ronald Fernandez on it.

Ronald Fernandez does it again! He have the magic to say the truth without no chains; and at the same time he opens the mind of the reader to make him really understand the facts that sometimes occurs long before, but are the ones that moves today's actions. This book is a complentary of "LOS MACHETEROS", another fine book from this great writer.*****

"Pueblos De Puerto Rico En Poesia/Puerto Rican Towns in Poetry," is a beautiful, and meaningful tribute to all of Puerto Rico's 78 towns in poetry and images. Poet Joaquin Hernandez Jimenez , honors every Puerto Rican town and city from Adjuntas to Yauco with poems and odes celebrating their uniqueness, nicknames, landmarks, and other characteristics that set them apart from one another. Even the district of Rio Piedras (which is part of San Juan) and the uninhabited island of Mona are also celebrated in separate poems. Hernandez Jimenez's poetry, which can be moving and amusing, is a delight to read.

If you are Puerto Rican, or an admirer of the island's culture and people, then I highly recommend this book. By reading this compilation of poetry, you will get a better portrait of life, traditions, and other aspects that Puerto Ricans treasured about their island and towns. In addition to the tribute to all of the island's towns, Rio Piedras, and Mona Island, the book contains four additional poems that celebrate Puerto Rico's beauty and people. "Viviras" and "Habla Roberto Clemente" are two tributes to the island's greatest baseball player, Roberto Clemente. The Carolina, Puerto Rico native rose to prominence with the Pittsburgh Pirates and became a major league star during the 1960's. After organizing a relief effort to help victims of a terrible earthquake in Nicaragua, Clemente showed that as a professional baseball player he still had a heart when it came to those who needed help. However, he died when the plane with relief supplies crashed into the waters of the Caribbean Sea shortly after taking off from San Juan.

The two other Poems, "Canto a Arecibo," and "Ay de Mi Borinquen" celebrate the beauty of the town of Arecibo and the island in lyrical poetry. These, and the book's other poems make this a must read for anyone who loves Spanish-language prose. It makes an excellent addition to anyone's library.

"Pueblos De Puerto Rico En Poesia/Puerto Rican Towns in Poetry," is a beautiful, and meaningful tribute to all of Puerto Rico's 78 towns in poetry and images. Poet Joaquin Hernandez Jimenez , honors every Puerto Rican town and city from Adjuntas to Yauco with poems and odes celebrating their uniqueness, nicknames, landmarks, and other characteristics that set them apart from one another. Even the district of Rio Piedras (which is part of San Juan) and the uninhabited island of Mona are also celebrated in separate poems. Hernandez Jimenez's poetry, which can be moving and amusing, is a delight to read.

If you are Puerto Rican, or an admirer of the island's culture and people, then I highly recommend this book. By reading this compilation of poetry, you will get a better portrait of life, traditions, and other aspects that Puerto Ricans treasured about their island and towns. In addition to the tribute to all of the island's towns, Rio Piedras, and Mona Island, the book contains four additional poems that celebrate Puerto Rico's beauty and people. "Viviras" and "Habla Roberto Clemente" are two tributes to the island's greatest baseball player, Roberto Clemente. The Carolina, Puerto Rico native rose to prominence with the Pittsburgh Pirates and became a major league star during the 1960's. After organizing a relief effort to help victims of a terrible earthquake in Nicaragua, Clemente showed that as a professional baseball player he still had a heart when it came to those who needed help. However, he died when the plane with relief supplies crashed into the waters of the Caribbean Sea shortly after taking off from San Juan.

The two other Poems, "Canto a Arecibo," and "Ay de Mi Borinquen" celebrate the beauty of the town of Arecibo and the island in lyrical poetry. These, and the book's other poems make this a must read for anyone who loves Spanish-language prose. It makes an excellent addition to anyone's library.

Pedro Pietri passed away on a cloud...literally. He was on a flight over Texas when he died. I'm sure that was how he wanted it. He was not born in the U.S. and so he did not die on the U.S. He passed on in mid-flight as if born to the clouds. OBITUARIOS is a truly great Poem. To call it a Poem does not really do it justice. It is an epitaph, an homage to the postwar migration of thousands of Puerto Rican Nationals who believed in the American Dream. This little book needs to be read. It not only represents the ideologies defining the Nuyorican experience, but it also continues the tradition begun by Beat poet greats such as Kerouac and Ginsberg. Pedro called himself El Reverendo de La Iglesia De La Madre De Los Tomates (Reverend of the Church of the Mother of the Tomatoes). I never quite understood what he meant, but I guess that he was poking fun at himself. Although Pedro's poetry was filled with humor, it was also full of the dark frustration that defined the Puerto Rican experience living in New York City. Some of his prose can sound preachy, but always full of hope and crystal clear realism. It is irony that permeates the larger part of his poetry, and where there is humor it was always as a mask to cover the tears of the unfulfilled dreams of each and every individual who felt he had no voice. I think Pedro fulfilled his dreams, in spite of himself. He has given us a symbol of Truth, and Perserverence in the form of his Art. I believe that one day soon we will see a School or a University, or a Library with EL REVERENDOs name at the top of it. It's the least they could do. In the meantime would someone PLEASE publish a new edition of this important book so that the rest of us can learn from the words of one of our greatest American Poets. We Love You, Pedro...

THIS BOOK WAS EXTREMELLY DELIGHTFUL, ENJOYABLE, FUNNY OH MY GOODNESS FUNNY, OUTSTANDING POETRY.
PEDRO HAD ME IN AWE, WITH HIS MIND AND THE ABILITY TO PUT ALL THIS IN A BOOK.
IT WAS SO FASCINATING TO READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
I KNOW THIS BOOK IS OUT-OF PRINT BUT TRY TO RENT IN A LIBRARY, U WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
PEDRO PIETRI IS AND OUTSTANDING AUTHOR, POET, COMEDIAN, WRITER AND MOST OF ALL HUMAN BEING.

Press and Reviews for Puerto Rico 1898

In this book, Fernando Pico not only analyzes the nature of the violence that :
erupted in rural Puerto Rico following the island's invasion by the United States on July 25, 1898, but also calls into question the interpretations of earlier scholars.
Pico's much.moreexhaustive study provides new evidence with which to revise those interpretations. He demonstrates.,that, for several months after the U.S. invasion, workers and peasant farmers of the interior of Puerto Rico attacked first the businesses and haciendas of the Spaniards and later those of the local Creoles.
Pico argues that the groups involved, known in Puerto Rico's history as "par-tidas sediciosas," were neither solely in favor of annexation to the United States, as Mariano Negron-Portillo (1987) contends, nor merely anti-Spanish groups seek-ing independence for Puerto Rico, as Juan Manuel Delgado has suggested (1980). Although Pico found evidence that groups of Creoles, primarily from the urban areas and from the "better" families of the island, cooperated with the U.S. troops, lie rejects tlie notion that the pai~tidns can be dismissed as proannexationist. He is quick to point out that he found evidence that some Creole groups also cooperated with the Spaniards during the early stages of the Spanish-American conflict. Having studied the social and economic development of rural Puerto Rico for most of the nineteenth century, Pico offers the view that tlie partidas "constituted a vigorous popular reaction against the old order and a desire to settle old scores with the members of the system they were rejecting" (p. 201).
Pico's contribution rests in his ability to analyze the violent conflict in light of the deteriorating economic conditions of the 1980s and -the anarchy that resulted from the U.S. invasion. He explains that, in the rural economy of Puerto Rico, neither the workers nor the peasant farmers could escape the exploitation of the wealthier rural classes. This exploitation kept them in debt, paid them starvation wages, and often deprived them of their plots of land. Thus, he finds nothing un-usual about the fact that the poorer classes should revolt against their oppressors. That such attacks against the local property owners lasted at all is an indication that U.S. troops were willing to tolerate outbreaks so long as they served U.S. purposes. As Pico points out, once the U.S. forces took possession of the island they set up military garrisons in the troubled areas and arrested and imprisoned the partidas leaders.
In this as in his earlier works, Pico, following the method of the Annales school, has reconstructed a period of Puerto Rico's history in splendid fashion. It should be of interest to social historians and students of Puerto Rican, Latin American, and U.S. history.
-Hispanic American Historical Review
Rutgers University, Newark Campus OLCA JIMENEZ WAGENHEIM

Fernando Pico has made fundamental contributions to the history of Puerto Rico, from broad interpretive surveys to fine-grained studies of work, class, and politics in Utuado, a mountainous coffee district that underwent dramatic social and economic changes in the nineteenth century. Puerto Rico 1898 is the translation of a work that first appeared in Spanish in 1987. It is a study of how Puerto Ricans responded to the North American invasion of the island in 1898. Much of the analysis relies on police reports from Utuado. The author also incorporates press reports, novels, and memoirs that address other regions. Pico's study focuses on the armed bands of tiznados (men who blackened their faces with burnt cork) that sprung up during and after the American invasion. These groups carried out acts of rough justice, addressing grievances accumulated in the latter decades of Spanish rule. In the relative political vacuum opened by the imperial transition, the bands robbed and intimidated prominent landowners, many of them Spaniards.
Pico treats the actions of the tiznados as a window onto the tensions within Puerto Rican society in the closing days of Spanish colonialism and the opening of the United States occupation. In his judgment, "After the 1898 invasion, the 'seditious bands' were the broadest and most vigorous expression of popular sentiment as a reaction to the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico. However, far from being a resistance movement against the invasion, the bands represented the repudiation of the previous economic and social regime, and a settlement of accounts with the most visible representatives of that
regime" (p-123).
Reconstructing the history of the tiznados has other ends, as well. In the author's view, capturing the violence of late-nineteenth-century rural life in Puerto Rico is a way of debunking the nostalgic yearnings for the era of Spanish rule that sometimes crop into Puerto Rican views of the past. As scholars such as Arcadio Diaz-Quinones and Silvia Alvarez Curbelo have shown, for many Puerto Ricans since 1898, the days of the Spanish colony have represented an attractive alternative to the present of North American rule. Pico, however, insists that under the Spanish regime life was brutally hard, especially for workers in the agrarian economy. Many lived on the edge of penury and starvation (pp. 1-10). Besides challenging hispanista nostalgia, Pico highlights the axes of conflict at the end of the nineteenth century. Separatism was not the major source of political opposition, as it was in the other Spanish colony, Cuba; the labor movement was (others might emphasize the Partido Autonomista, founded in 1887). Here, like other Puerto Rican historians such as Astrid Cubano-Iguina and Gervasio Garcia, Pico argues persuasively that the absence of a robust separatist movement did not indicate a harmonious colonial world. The history of the tiznados reveals instead a contentious society, rent by conflicts between Spaniards and criollos, workers, and hacendados: "To remember the bands is, first of all, to reveal the conflictive character of the old economic rule in the mountains. Likewise, it is to acknowledge the fighting capacity of the people of the mountains against those who had dispossessed them by subjecting them to the work regime of the haciendas and the indebtedness to the hacienda stores" (p. 126).
Though Pico focuses on the conflicts brewing under the old regime, he also provides fascinating insights into the early days of the United States occupation. Though penned in 1987, the 2004 translation of Puerto Rico 1898 will strike the reader as uncannily resonant with war and occupation in the twenty-first century. The transition of empires led to a breakdown of social order that allowed the tiznados to flourish. The new occupier began to undo the Spanish colonial state and only slowly replaced it with new institutions: "[D]ifferent regions of the island experienced a political vacuum. The Spanish State, which had, with much difficulty, managed to rule in the farthest and most troublesome areas of the country, was dismantled. The new American political and military apparatus replacing it, however, started off by wielding its power in a hesitant, uneven manner" (p. 43). An example of that hesitancy was the American military's attitude toward the tiznados. Only over time and with much imploring from landowners did the military come to see policing rural areas and maintaining social order as a necessary facet of war and occupation (pp. 60-62).
I recommend this book to several reading publics. For the scholar of the Caribbean and Latin America, Puerto Rico 1898 is a fine example of trends within Puerto Rican social and political history. It is also a concise depiction of one aspect of the transition of empires in 1898. In that sense, it should be of strong interest to historians of Spain, the United States, and other modern colonial regimes. Finally, while closely researched, this excellent translation is easily accessible to the nonspecialist. I myself would eagerly include it in undergraduate classes. Markus Wiener Publishers are to be congratulated for making available this important work, along with other first-rate works in Puerto Rican and Caribbean history.
- Hispanic American Historical Review

"The book is essentially the story of partidas sediciosas, armed groups that terrorized the Puerto Rican countryside in 1898 and 1899. Chiefly active during and after the invasion (July to October 1898), the partidas focused their anger on peninsular Spanish merchants and landowners. The bandits battered or killed their victims, and almost invariably destroyed property... Picó's thoughtful typology of the partidas sheds light on the tensions that undercut Puerto Rican society at the end of the nineteenth century. The author reconstructs, with the help of U.S. military records, previously unexplored aspects of the invasion." -American Historical Review
"In this as in his earlier works, Picó, following the method of the Annales school, has reconstructed a period of Puerto Rico's history in splendid fashion. It should be of interest to social historians and students of Puerto Rican, Latin American, and U.S. History."
-Hispanic American Historical Review
Fernando Picó, University of Puerto Rico, is the leading authority on Puerto Rican history and the author of seven books, including Historia general de Puerto Rico.



Hardcover Info:
ISBN ISBN 1-55876-326-0
200pp
$68.95

Paperback Info:
ISBN ISBN 1-55876-327-9
200pp
$22.95