Customer Reviews

Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British West Indies, 1838-1918 (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture)

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Look Lai has presented an in-depth analysis of Chinese and East Indian immigrants who migrated from their home countries and went to new lands in the West Indies where there worked in sugar plantations as indentured laborers. His hybridization thesis is refreshing and brings to light the different cultural experiences these immigrants had in the British colonies of Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana. I recommend this text to anyone interested in learning about the history of plantation labor in the 19th. century and about the tumultuous events that occurred. This author is the only one so far who has investigated the West Indian Chinese and East Indian cultures together and he has worked to put the text into its correct historical context. Easy to read. A must for those who want to read about how two races, Chinese and East Indians, had ethnic tensions within their own cultural backgrounds: the caste system delineated who was higher in rank and who was at the bottom for those who came originally from India, and the Hakka/Cantonese differences were pre-emminent. Look Lai proves that the precursor of events that took place, the British immigration laws, the indentureship system, the riot incidents, and the tensions among the white plantocracy and freed slaves and indentured laborers, paved the way for the political and economic problems of the 20th. century. I enjoyed the book tremendously. Henrietta Akit. B.A. Hons.in History, University of Western Ontario, Canada.

For those wanting to explore an indepth account of indenture this is a reliable and enlightning source. If you have a passion for Caribbean literature, having read this book will make the Caribbean novels you read come alive, because it gives the historical account of how the Chinese and Indian migrants arrived in the West Indies and of all the vicissitudes they endured. For many years the focus of intelectuals had centered on the arrival of the African slaves and their work in the sugar cane plantations of the West Indies. Now, Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar allows us to have a full picture of the migrants that constitute the greater part of the population of former colonies like Trinidad and British Guiana, among others, and establishes a basis for comparison between the two waves of migrations: the imposed African migration and the latter "voluntary" one described in this book.

This is an excellent book for the student or a casual reader who wishes to learn the background of their ancestors who were transported to the Caribbean as indentured laborers. It is probably the best account that I have ever read and it comfirms some of the stories I heard from my mother and grandmother.It has led me to seek other books on the subject from other sources and even to become curious of the history of India from where my ancestors came, from their accounts, willingly in search of a better life, which they apparently found after the initial sacrifice. We their decendants further emigrated to the USA in search of better education and lifestyles which we in turn found, and are happy with. Now I am curious of the sacrifices they made to make all of this possible.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY OF THE PEOPLES THAT CAME TO THE ISLAND,I AM AN EAST INDIAN AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT I FINALY CAN HAVE A BOOK THAT RELATES TO MY EAST INDIAN ANCESTORS.AND IF LUCK HAS ITS WAY,KNOW THE NAMES OF MY GREAT GREAT GRAND PARENTS THAT JOURNEYED ACROSS THE VAST SEAS TO MAKE A HOME IN THE WEST INDIES.

This is not your Alex Haley "Roots" type book. It is closer to a reference manual. This book provides a wealth of information on the Chinese and Indian migrants to the West Indies. There is extensive research on the routes, places of origins, and multiple census type information that does not seem to be taught these days. Highly recommended!

THIS IS A TRUE STORY OF THE PEOPLES THAT CAME TO THE ISLAND,I AM AN EAST INDIAN AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT I FINALY CAN HAVE A BOOK THAT RELATES TO MY EAST INDIAN ANCESTORS.AND IF LUCK HAS ITS WAY,KNOW THE NAMES OF MY GREAT GREAT GRAND PARENTS THAT JOURNEYED ACROSS THE VAST SEAS TO MAKE A HOME IN THE WEST INDIES.