The Fortifications of Cartagena de Indias

This book describes, albeit briefly, the efforts of men who, driven by imperial or local interests, studied the city’s tactical weaknesses and unflinchingly attempted, stone by stone, to correct them. There are no detailed descriptions of each bastion. The author’s purpose is to as- sess the strategic ideas which gave birth to forts and ramparts, and, of course, to chronicle events connected with their planning, building and military history. Since the goal is to promote a general understanding of the subject, I apologize to professional historians: there is an intentional absence of source notes in the text to foster unhindered reading.