In this non-partisan text, Arturo Morales Carrión discusses the island's social, institutional, and cultural evolution and provides a historical perspective on all political positions.

Attention to problems related to the Puerto Rican search for identity makes this a book of special interest to Americans and Puerto Ricans alike. "Understanding the island," says the author, "involves transcending the confines of American nationalism in an effort at empathy and insight. Only through mutual understanding and respect will the United States and Puerto Rico face with hope and creativity the many baffling and thorny issues of the present."