About

José L. Bolívar Fresneda has published extensively in both Spanish and English on twentieth-century Puerto Rican history, contributing books, journal articles, and newspaper columns. His most recent work is The Caribbean Front in World War II: The Untold Story of U-Boats, Spies, and Economic Warfare (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2021). His earlier works—coedited with Dr. Jorge Rodríguez Beruff—include Island at War: Puerto Rico in the Crucible of the Second World War (University Press of Mississippi, 2015), Puerto Rico en la Segunda Guerra Mundial: El Escenario Regional (Editorial Callejón, 2015), and Puerto Rico en la Segunda Guerra Mundial: Baluarte del Caribe (Editorial Callejón, 2012). These volumes bring together original research by scholars from diverse disciplines, exploring international dynamics, military strategy, high-level politics, and economic transformation.

Island at War was selected by Choice as one of the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2015. The review praised the book as “Essential”—a designation reserved for works considered indispensable to academic collections in history, political science, and Latin American studies.

His book Guerra, banca y desarrollo: el Banco de Fomento y la industrialización de Puerto Rico, 1942–1948 (San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín, 2011) has been acclaimed as essential reading for anyone interested in Puerto Rico’s history during the Second World War. He co-authored Battleship Vieques: Puerto Rico from World War II to the Korean War (Princeton: Marcus Wiener Press, 2011) with Dr. César J. Ayala, which was selected by Choice as one of the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2011. He is also the author of numerous newspaper columns and has published in CENTRO (Hunter College), Op. Cit., and the Revista de Ciencias Sociales (University of Puerto Rico).

Dr. José L. Bolívar Fresneda holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the Department of History of the University of Puerto Rico, an M.B.A. from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in both Puerto Rico and Florida. He publishes under the names José L. Bolívar Fresneda and José Bolívar and resides in Puerto Rico.