About the Author

CESAR J. AYALA is associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of American Sugar Kingdom: The Plantation Economy of the Spanish Caribbean, 1898-1934 (from the University of North Carolina Press). RAFAEL BERNABE is professor and director of the Federico de Onis Hispanic Studies Center at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. He has published three books in Puerto Rico.

Reviews

A comprehensive historical picture of political developments in the island. . . . By taking the courageous step of restoring economic dependence and its social consequences to the heart of the argument for autonomy--and, in effect, pitting it against more inventive, and often elitist cultural perspectives that range from the neo-nationalist to the post-modern--Puerto Rico in the American Century offers a far more plausible context for understanding the status issue, while offering a far more tolerable, democratic direction for the independence movement in a globalised world."--Latin American Review of Books

A comprehensive overview of Puerto Rico's history and its evolution since the installation of U.S. rule."--RepeatingIslands.com

Academics, students, and general readers will find this book a helpful tool to probe the intricacies of Puerto Rican history. . . . A provocative. . . . [and] landmark work."--Pedro San Miguel, Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies

An admirable history of Puerto Rico. . . . This book is the standard against which any other about twentieth-century Puerto Rico will be judged."--New West Indian Guide

An exciting . . . volume that stimulates as well as informs; students and scholars on all levels will find much to discuss. . . . Highly recommended."--CHOICE

An impressive achievement. . . . Up to date in its scholarship, solid in its mastery of history, lucidly analyzed, strongly argued, and clearly written, Puerto Rico in the American Century may be the best modern history of the island and its people in print."--Peter Winn, History Book Club

Indispensable."--Edgardo Rodriguez Julia, Primera Revista Latinoamerican de Libros

Politics, economics and culture are in constant dialogue within the narrative . . . providing a complex and at many points refreshing perspective of Puerto Rican history."--Against the Current

This book goes far to provide the information and analysis necessary to resolve the short shrift that Puerto Rico and its people have received in histories of Latin America and of the United States."--The Americas

Not only an excellent introduction to the island for the nonexpert but it is also of value to scholars who are searching for new topics to research on Puerto Rican history and the Puerto Rican diaspora. . . . An excellent contribution to the general history of Puerto Rico during the twentieth century.--Hispanic American Historical Review