A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and Carib to the Present

by Jan Rogozinski

Overview

This comprehensive volume takes the reader and student through more than five hundred years of Caribbean history, beginning with Columbus's arrival in the Bahamas in 1492.

A Brief History of the Caribbean traces the people and events that have marked this constantly shifting region, encompassing everything from economic booms and busts to epidemics, wars, and revolutions, and bringing to life such important figures as Sir Francis Drake, Blackbeard, Toussaint Louverture, Fidel Castro, the Duvaliers, and Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

This superbly written history, revised and updated, with new chapters that reflect the islands' most recent social, economic, and political developments, is a work of impeccable scholarship. Featuring maps, charts, tables, and photographs, it remains the ideal guide to the region and its people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452281936
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.97(w) x 8.99(h) x 0.92(d)

About the Author

Jan Rogozinski is the author of Caste, Power, and Law: Social Conflict in Fourteenth-Century Montpellier; Honor Among Thieves: Captain Kidd, Henry Every, and the Pirate Democracy in the Indian Ocean; and A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and the Carib to the Present. He earned an MA and a PhD from Princeton University, and has taught history courses at universities in Cambridge, Chicago, Miami, and New York. He lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Table of Contents

List of Tables
List of Maps
Preface
Part One: The Caribbean Under Spanish Rule
1. The Enduring Environment and the First Islanders
2. Discovery of the Islands
3. Pirates Fight for Spanish Gold
4. Spain's Caribbean Colonies
Part Two: Northern Europeans Come to Stay
5. The Dutch Empire
6. Settlement of the Lesser Antilles
7. The Buccaneers of Jamica, Saint-Domingue, and the Bahamas
8. War and Piracy, 1665-1720
Part Three: The Sugar Empire
9. Sugar Rules the Islands
10. The World of the Slaves
11. England and France Struggle to Control the Islands
12. Runaways and Rebels
Part Four: The Abolition of Slavery and the Challenges of Freedom
13. The British Colonies
14. The Spanish Islands Fight for Freedom
15. Hispaniola and the Leeward Islands
Part Five: Poverty and Progress in the Caribbean Since 1914
16. Cuba During the 20th Century
17. The Dominican Republic and Haiti
18. Colonialism's Mixed Blessings
19. The British Colonies Gain Independence
20. Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and the Bahamas Since Independence
21. The English-Speaking Eastern Caribbean States

Appendix: Maps
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
Photo Credits
Index

Editorial Reviews

Offered as a brief history of a diverse and intriguing region, this work is a veritable sourcebook of information about the Caribbean, ranging from the climate to vegetation to colonial history to politics. The book, in five parts, covers Spanish rule, the northern European influence, the sugar empire, independence, and post-World War I development. Textual clarity, access to straightforward tables covering primarily demographic information, and various statistics will prove useful to the reader looking for a ready reference source. The author delivers on his claim to provide analysis as well as description, and the general reader will find many interesting interpretations and much data. Highly recommended for all libraries.-- Roderic A. Camp, Latin American Ctr., Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La.

Library Journal

Provides a descriptive and analytical history of the Caribbean islands focusing on the interrelated evolution of the economy, political institutions, and social forms from the landing of Columbus in the Bahamas 500 years ago to the present. Includes over 40 b&w photographs and 24 maps. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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