In the second half of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century, Spanish authorities carried out the Bourbon reforms, a reorganization of the imperial system aimed at increasing income from colonial possessions. Urban transformations were important to these reforms, and were materialized in a series of similar, and nearly simultaneous, changes to different cities of Spanish America. These included the official alteration of the uses of the main square (Plaza Mayor/Plaza de Armas) and the establishment of general cemeteries in the urban periphery.

Paul Niell's book is an important addition to the growing literature on Bourbon urban reforms, presenting a fruitful combination of art history, urban history, and heritage studies. Niell takes Havana as his case study, focusing on the official intervention in the main square and, particularly, on the construction of a new building, El Templete (1828), which contained three large paintings memorializing historical subjects (The First Cabildo, The First Mass, and The Inauguration of El Templete). Havana makes for an interesting and attractive research subject, mainly because of its very late independence (1898) and particular black vs. white racial tensions, which Niell explains in some detail. The book is divided into five chapters, each of which considers a different component of the urban and aesthetic reform of the main square. With the creation of El Templete, the main square was partially transformed into a site of memory (lieu de mémoire), celebrating some aspects of local history (represented in the aforementioned paintings) while ignoring others (like Havana's early black population).

The strength of the book lies in its sophisticated analysis of the urban dimension of the Bourbon reforms in Havana, and for that alone it is worth a read. Nevertheless, I would like to suggest two general critiques. The first relates to the visualization of the urban scene, the main topic of Chapter 1. Maps are crucial to books on cities, and Niell includes several important ones. However, legibility is limited, negating the benefits of reproducing the map (for example, that of Juan Síscara on page 31). Two solutions are available in cases like this: either redraw an old map and indicate important parts of the city or improve (enlarge) the reproduction of the old map. Readers unfamiliar with Havana will need to look elsewhere to understand the basic features of the city, which is unfortunate, given the book's focus on urban space.

The second critique relates to the comparison of Havana with other cities. The book does a good job in comparing the European experience with that of Havana, but its discussion of other Spanish American cities is weak. Niell emphasizes the Mexican case (well explored by US historians, who are cited, and Mexican historians, who are largely ignored), but pays less attention to other Spanish colonial cities, especially those with similar racial and ethnic distributions and tensions. Niell recognizes the importance of ethnic tension in shaping the official reformist attitude, so this lack is noticeable.

Along similar lines, the book shines when introducing the main components of the urban reforms, but it would have been strengthened by the incorporation of more local Havana sources and further discussion of local reactions. For instance, when dealing with the general cemetery, Niell describes its construction and its architectonic features, but does not discuss local responses to the project (for example, the reactions of the elite or the lower classes). Throughout the book there are moments when local evidence seems to be missing. This may be related to the absence (among Niell's sources) of a vital kind of document for dealing with local politics in Spanish American cities: the libros de cabildo (or Actas Capitulares). The Archivo Histórico de la Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad lists this source in its collection for the relevant years. Consideration of Havana's Libro de Cabildo might have helped explain how Bourbon reforms were locally adopted and adapted.