Notes

This is the first important critical analysis of Puerto Rican historiography by a leading historian of Puerto Rico. Brau noted the limitations of earlier historical works on Puerto Rico and sought to correct the factual errors he found in them. In writing the work, Brau relied primarily on historical documents available at the Archivo General de las Indias in Spain, where he spent three years. The study discusses a wide diversity of Puerto Rican documents from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, which Brau uncovered at the Archivo.