Gutiérrez divides his study of Panamanian architecture into four parts: indigenous, colonial, from independence to 1930, and from 1930 to the present. In treating each period he shows how architectural developments were closely related to the political, social, and economic history of the area. The precolonial period (Part I) is lightly sketched, with only a few pages devoted to each of the tribes whose art, sculpture, and dwellings he describes. The other three periods receive about equal attention.

Gutiérrez divides colonial architecture (Part II) into three categories: civil, military, and religious. For each category he briefly discusses relevant historical events and developments and then describes in some detail various structures. For each structure he indicates the construction process, subsequent physical alterations, the uses of the building at various times, and the present state of preservation.

In Part III Gutiérrez follows a slightly different formula. He very briefly slides over the period up to 1903, which he describes as a continuation of the colonial period, and also over the French influence of the late nineteenth century. Most of this part is devoted to short sketches of individual architects (one page or less) and the usual descriptions of extant buildings. Separate mention is made of workers’ residences (casas de inquilinato) and the appearance of the chalet style in urban areas.

In handling what he calls the contemporary period (Part IV) Gutiérrez begins to identify schools of architects. He devotes several pages to an examination of the professional training of architects in Panama and provides a five-page list of theses done at the Universidad de Panamá, for the degree of licenciado in architecture from 1950 to 1965. Again there are descriptions of representative buildings. Gutiérrez, a member of the architecture faculty of the Universidad de Panamá has also written studies on the “barriadas brujas” (lower class sections) of Panama City (1961) and of the Italian architect Bruno Zevi (1963). In this volume he has produced a synthetic survey of architectual developments in Panama which will be useful to specialists as well as non-specialists. The concise, outline-like presentation is suitable for its intended classroom use.

The extent of the author’s library research is reflected in the numerous footnotes and the fifteen-page bibliography. Over one hundred photographs, located at the end of various sections, are very useful. A few errors which could have been eliminated in proofreading are annoying to the reader, but do not significantly diminish the overall worth of the book.