“A formidable achievement.”

Spectator

“A plethora of books have been written about the Spanish Empire, but this one offers a refreshing look at the challenges it faced—and largely overcame—in building an effective infrastructure for it. . . .  The wide array of sources employed permits the authors to cover every corner of an empire that was inspired by the example of Ancient Rome, yet remained largely intact for three centuries despite its enormous geographical stretch and a formidable array of rivals. . . . Recommended.”

Choice

“Be prepared: Fernández-Armesto and Lucena Giraldo will sweep you off the solid ground of what you thought you knew about empire, as they dive beneath the scholarly wave of structuralism to find an infrastructural undertow. But fear not. In the hands of these historical engineers, as witty as they are erudite, this manual for how to make an empire offers an answer to an old question: how on earth did imperialists do it? And their answer is as well designed, built, and fortified as Spain’s colonial enterprise mostly seems to have been.”

Matthew Restall, author of “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest” and “When Montezuma Met Cortés”

“’What have the Spaniards ever done for us?’ imperial subjects may have asked, plotting rebellion. ‘Aqueducts?’ One may have ventured. ‘Okay, aqueducts. What else?’ ‘Appeals courts?’ ‘Right! Appeals courts. And?’ ‘Well, the mails?’ ‘Okay. So there are the aqueducts, the appeals courts, the royal mail. But really, what have the Spaniards ever done for us?’ ‘Hospitals?’ ‘The transoceanic fleet system?’ ‘Defensive fortifications?’ ‘Arched bridges?’ ‘A standardized writing system?’ One gets the idea. Certain to spark heated discussions like this one, How the Spanish Empire was Built offers a comprehensive defense of Spanish logistical ingenuity, a neo-Roman project of truly global dimensions. Known mostly to Spanish historians of science and engineering until now, the logistical stuff of empire, what made it function day-by-day for so long despite the tyranny of distance, the temptations of corruption, and the relentless downward tug of entropy, has remained obscure to most Anglophone readers. In an age obsessed with global supply chains, instant communications, and global epidemics, there is much to be learned from predecessors who first encircled the world, for better or worse. The authors say this is simply a book about the ‘scaffolding of empire,’ but it is about much more. It is a provocation.”

Kris Lane, Tulane University

“An essential book, magisterially written . . . in a limpid, clear style, without sacrificing academic rigour.”

Fernando R. Lafuente | ABC (Spain), on the Spanish edition

“[The authors] explore an under-appreciated yet essential dimension of the Spanish Empire: the public works which allowed . . . a small European minority to control, develop and defend a vast territory.”

Alfonso López | National Geographic España, on the Spanish edition

“The authors demonstrate a rare capacity to make accessible a voluminous knowledge of the reality of the overseas territories of the Spanish Monarchy. . . . [This book] should be in the library of every lover of American history.”

Maria Saavedra | El Debate, on the Spanish edition