A Short History of the West Indies by J.H. Perry, Philip Sherlock and Anthony Maingot (MacMillan; 1987 (4th Edition), ISBN 978-0-333-40954-1)
When I’m out and about, whether it’s inside the U.S. or outside my native country, I like to buy books that reflect the culture and history of wherever it is that I am traveling. Thus, on my recent vacation to the Caribbean, I picked up a copy of A Short History to familiarize myself with the history of islands I was visiting on this trip (St. Thomas, Martinique, St. Martin, St. Lucia, the Bahamas, and Barbados) as well as learn about islands I’ve been on before (Aruba, Curacao, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and others). Because the Caribbean islands were initially settled (in terms of European displacement of the indigenous Caribs, Tainos, and Arawak peoples who actually owned the place) by English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Danish interlopers, the history of the area is far more complex, than say, the history of Minnesota.
There have been comings and goings of various European stakeholders in the Caribbean for over five hundred years. Add to this, the forced migration of millions of African slaves to the islands to work the sugar plantations, as well as a smaller, but equally important influx of East Indian indentured servants to some of the islands (Trinidad, for one), and you have an historic cauldron of ethnicity, language, and culture that is unique and complex. The authors seek to nobly guide the interested spectator and visitor to the region through the web of immigration, conquest, intrigue, politics, and economics which has led to the formation of independent nation states no larger than the size of a postage stamp (Barbados), or the inclusion of distant and far away exotics (Martinique) in the daily fabric of foreign government (France).
The book is a bit too ambitious in scope and inexplicably leaves out any reference to the history of the Bahamas, one of the closest island nations geographically to the U.S., which is puzzling, to say the least. Still, the book is a good solid base from which a reader can dive in and explore the history of this region in more detail. 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
