Bermuda Forts 1612-1957 -- by Edward Harris, F.S.A. -- published by the Bermuda Maritime Museum Press -- designed by Paul Shapiro.

*** In a work of remarkable scholarship, more than 15 years in the making, Edward Harris's `Bermuda Forts 1612-1957' will take its place as the definitive book on Bermuda's fortifications. The fact that these fortifications and their unparalleled collection of ordnance are increasingly recognised as being of international significance, should also introduce this superbly produced volume to a far wider readership than would probably normally be the case.

Dr. Harris has few, if any, rivals in his expertise on what has become, for him, a passion: fortunately, he is also an eloquent writer who sweeps his readers up in his own enthusiasm as he sets out a story which, for many, will be a revelation. The mass of meticulously researched information traces the history of these fortifications and of the military stratagems that inspired them; in so doing, the author also presents a compelling case as to why their preservation and promotion as an internationally attractive Island-wide system of living museums could provide the cultural tourism shot in the arm so desperately needed in a resort that is finding it increasingly hard to survive the competition as a sun, sand and sea destination. As he states, parts of his purpose in writing the book was to bring this fact to public attention, so that "it can no longer be said that we stand in ignorance''.

Tracing the history of the Island's fortifications which embrace the early 17th century stone structures at the East End to the magnificent stone ramparts of Empire at the West End, Dr. Harris reveals that, from 1612 to 1957, a total of 99 forts were built -- an incredible number for so small an archipelago but deemed necessary to deter potential invaders from the sea.

Paget Fort ("the first masonry fort in the New World''), Smith's on Governor's Island, the first St. Catherine's Fort and the three forts comprising `King's Castle' on Castle Island -- from where in 1614 two approaching Spanish ships were greeted by a couple of shots and took off, never to return -- were just some of the 11 that had already been built in the first decade of settlement.

Bermuda was Britain's second acquisition outside Europe but, as Dr. Harris explains, by the time the Island was being settled in 1612, there were already six or seven English forts in North America. As they were constructed mainly of wood and earth, only archaeological traces remain, whereas the stone works of Bermuda hark directly back to the innovative coastal defences of Henry VIII. As the author points out, with only a break of about 75 years after Henry's reign, the Bermuda forts continued a system of British coastal defences that had begun in Roman times. The success and endurance of the Bermuda forts ties in, Dr. Harris explains, with the geography and geology of the Island, limestone and cedar being the foundations upon which the economy of Bermuda was underpinned from settlement: those early forts, he writes, "were made to fit the site, organically, as the modern architect might say''.

The older version of that rock -- Bermuda hardstone -- would later be used in the 19th century to build some of the major forts of St. George's and the mighty Dockyard defences.

The declaration of independence by America heralded the next massive onslaught of defence building in Bermuda. It was then, notes Dr. Harris, that the Corps of Royal Engineers ("purveyors of technology to the Empire'') and especially its Captain Andrew Durnford, placed their unique stamp on Bermuda's coastal headlands; indeed, as Durnford himself explained, even these were inadequate as, although the length and swell of the south shore beaches deterred landings, the many little bays might accommodate a small boat slipping "between the rock''. Thus, the area from Tucker's Town to Church Bay in Southampton soon boasted a flurry of small batteries.

As Dr. Harris somewhat testily maintains, Dockyard, purchased from local landowners at Ireland Island, and begun in 1809, was never `the Gibraltar of the West': "It was Bermuda, an Imperial fortress in its own right''. Bermuda was chosen for this great undertaking as its geographical position, half-way between Halifax in the north and the West Indies to the south, was vital if domination of the Western Atlantic was to be maintained after the loss of the American bases.

That the threat of an American invasion was real, is revealed in the author's fascinating account of that country's spying activities in the 1840s. The first, a certain Albert Fitz, met with little success as on this small island, "strangers are looked upon with suspicion and distrust''. Then, a Capt.

Knowlton, who found, more than a decade after Emancipation, that "the blacks strongly prefer the English government to our own, and for reasons too obvious to mention''. Dr. Harris also reveals the perhaps little known fact that Wreck Hill fort in Sandys was the only place in Bermuda to be invaded by foreign forces. This was by two `rebel privateers' (skippered by two unnamed Bermudians from South Carolina), with men who "spiked the Cannon, and destroyed the Carriages and remained there Six Days''.

Much of the magnificent Fort Victoria, planned to house 200 men and "without a doubt the most elaborate fortification in Bermuda in the 1850s'' was, incredibly, destroyed in the 1960s to make way for the hotel that has become an architectural albatross for St. George's almost ever since; Fort St.

Catherine, unique in that it is well maintained and in use as a tourist attraction by the government, was rebuilt and enlarged in the 1820s, while the massive Fort Cunningham was built to reinforce the strategic eastern end of the Island.

Bermuda's importance would again flourish as World War II drew inexorably closer; this time, however, the old enemy, the United States of America, long since established as friend and ally, joined with Britain in defending the free world from Germany. With the British building their last `fort' -- Warwick Camp -- the Americans were about to embark on the erection of sea and air bases in Southampton and at St. David's, both in their way, as revolutionary as Dockyard had been in an earlier age. Bitterly resented at first, the American presence would, after the end of the war, prove to be a blessing in disguise as the new era ushered in airborne tourism -- and a new era of prosperity for Bermudians.

In 1957, with coastal defences being declared as obsolete in a new technological world, the British `folded up its tent', and the garrison departed. With the closure of HMS Malabar in 1995, an amazing, near-300 year military association with Britain came to an end. As Dr. Harris points out, whatever the pros and cons of colonialism, there can be no doubt that the resultant lands, handed back to the people of Bermuda in the 1950s, provided the bulk of what now constitutes our relatively few open spaces. Even more importantly, Dr. Harris has not only accorded recognition to the fact that Bermuda was handed a priceless heritage, but has made it his life's work to awaken the rest of the country to its unique potential.

It was when he became Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum, housed in the magnificent Keep at Dockyard, that Dr. Harris realised he was in the midst of the biggest fort of all -- a fact that spurred his own interest in the heritage of his homeland. At university, he had already been a keen participator in several important archaeological `digs' in England and Europe.

With degrees in anthropology from Columbia University and a doctorate in archaeology from University College, London, the inventor of the `Harris Matrix', now used around the world, and author of `Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy' which has been translated into seven languages, Dr. Harris is well qualified to write this impressive volume. Noting that `research' means `re-search', he was as good as his word and, gathering friends and field schools from Brown University and the College of William and Mary, embarked on a massive archaeological mission, "looking in the ground and at the buildings'' to find out, in a practical sense just what had happened in his country's rich history. Essential to this line of scholarship is the recording of results and the versatile Dr. Harris provides about 100 skilful line drawings and maps, besides a wonderful collection of black and white photographs and colour plates. The historical perspective is further enhanced with the inclusion of archival pictures.

the herculean efforts of those who have uncovered and taken pains to preserve often unique items of weaponry. These sections, presumably, will primarily appeal to specialists rather than the lay reader. On the whole, however, this book will hold the attention of anyone remotely interested in Bermuda's history. There are, to be sure, occasions when technical `jargon' becomes baffling for the average reader (what's a ravelin, or a terreplein, for instance?), and a glossary of terms would, despite the author's assurances to the contrary, be helpful to the majority of readers.

Do not be deterred, however. This book is a `must have' for all those interested in Bermuda's historical, cultural and ecological past and most particularly, one is tempted to hope, for those who are in any way concerned with Bermuda's future.

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