Beginning with the seminal work of Lyle McAlister on New Spain (1957), followed by the contributions of Christon Archer, also for New Spain (1977), Leon Campbell for Peru (1978), Santiago Suárez for Venezuela (1979 and 1984), and this reviewer for New Granada (1978) and Cuba (1986), the body of literature on the eighteenth- century military institution has grown steadily. In Spain, the scholarship of Juan Marchena Fernández has accompanied this growth, producing La institución militar en Cartagena de Indias, 1700-1810 (1982) and the highly influential Oficiales y soldados en el ejército de América (1983). The present volumes, which represent another ten years of research by Marchena, now in the company of Carmen Gómez Pérez, stand as major steps toward a full and satisfactory understanding of the Bourbon military and its immense impact on colonial life.

It comes as no surprise that enlightened Spain, like the other great European states, invested the mass of its public revenues in an arms race that demanded a relentlessly growing commitment of national resources. While the soldiery is central to their inquiries, Marchena and Gómez lucidly document the powerful roles that the flourishing defense establishment assumed in the colonial apparatus, from high- level military planning down to the shape and character of the garrison cities and towns. The research is exhaustive, encompassing archival materials from most of the major repositories on both sides of the ocean. The analyses, which include abundant quantification, are impressive.

In Ejército y milicias, Marchena expands on his earlier treatment of the colonial armies, sustaining a comprehensive imperial overview in his approach. Beginning with a two-chapter treatment of the Hapsburg antecedents, he places the Bourbon military reforms and their massive impact on the colonial system into broad perspective. Central to the analysis are his study of the regular army officer corps, where a politically significant process of Americanization gradually occurred; the militia’s emergence as a key component of the armed forces; and the mechanics and realities of military finance, where the transfer of capital within the colonies bore profound economic consequences. In his closing chapter, Marchena ponders the long-range implications of the intimate relationship that developed between the colonial elites and the military institution.

In El sistema defensivo, Gómez focuses on military planning, recruitment, training, supply, support services (nourishment, health care, religious instruction), and overall costs. This volume brims with information about the multiple challenges of sustaining the burgeoning military establishment. The author shows that in the short run the Bourbon authorities managed the daunting task of defending a far-flung, diverse empire reasonably well, but in the end the costs became far more than the system could bear.

In their collaborative effort, La vida de guarnición, Gómez and Marchena address the military’s far-reaching impact on the personalities of the ubiquitous fortified garrison cities. They argue that in major strong points, such as Havana, San Juan, and Cartagena, military imperatives profoundly affected everything from daily routine and popular occupations to urban planning and the use of space. Central to this volume is the documentation and portrayal of the misery of the common soldier, on whom so much depended. And again, military finance represents a fundamental concern, as the authors show that the real beneficiaries of the Bourbon military reforms were those who, having access to His Majesty’s monies, manipulated the funding and support of the massive defense establishment.

The research of Marchena and Gómez and their multifaceted treatment of the colonial armed forces make monumental contributions to a fuller understanding of the late colonial period. Their work balances ambitious quantification with an ability to highlight the illuminating detail. These volumes are fundamental for libraries on colonial Spanish America.