A History of Florida Forts: Florida's Lonely Outposts

Alejandro M. De Quesada has done a good job of introducing us to military fortifications in Florida. The author starts with the Spanish, and moves through the Territorial era, the Seminole Wars, the Civil War, and the modern era, including the Spanish-American conflict, World War I, and World War II. The volume is generously illustrated with photographs and contemporary drawings. And, there is a bibliography. But the book is lacking. There is no index! There are no end notes! While the author does cite the sources in the text, there are no page numbers to those sources. Furthermore, de Quesada has left out dozens of installations. He makes a passing mention of Fort Mellon (Sanford), but gives us no details of the Fort. He also has a photograph on page 210 of an abandoned Cold War missile battery in Key West, but no details. How about Fort San Diego in Ponte Verda Beach, or the forts (British, American, and Confederate) at New Smynra, or Fort Gatlin in Orlando? Once again, this is a good introduction to fortifications in Florida, and well worth the money for the photographs alone. I just want more.