American Sugar Kingdom: The Plantation Economy of the Spanish Caribbean, 1898-1934

Ayala makes an important contribution to Caribbean economic history with this comparative study of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. . . . An original work of tremendous interest to scholars concerned with Caribbean history, economic geography, corporate agriculture, and the political economy of development.--Cuban Studies

Ayala has produced an accessible study of sugar in the Spanish Caribbean that will appeal to a broad audience of readers ranging from advanced undergraduates to economists, political scientists, and area specialists. Useful tables and clear, concise maps as well as detailed endnotes and an ample bibliography make this book a valuable reference tool not only for Latin Americanists, but also for anyone with interests as diverse as comparative colonialism and global economics.--Americas

As meticulous in its research as it is evocative in its approach, Ayala's book is, without doubt, a significant contribution to the complex problem of the Caribbean plantation.--Journal of American History

Both a contribution to the study of the sugar industry in the Caribbean and an examination of the processes of American imperialism in this tropical setting. . . . An excellent book that deserves a wide readership.--American Historical Review

[This book] is a very welcome addition to the historiography of the Caribbean and to development-underdevelopment theory.--Business History Review

[This book] excels in providing a coherent comparative analysis of capitalist underdevelopment in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.--Latin American Research Review

An outstanding book. . . . This ambitious project required the author to keep straight the complex interactions of U.S. producers, island sugar systems, and other competitors at a time of major political changes in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Through careful attention to the development of argument, evidence, and context, the author accomplishes this with style, economy, and unusual clarity. . . . A model for academic discourse.--Choice