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

~ Jan Rogonzinski (Author) "Taken together, the Caribbean islands create a kind of long narrow chain, almost 2,500 miles long but never more than 160 miles wide Run roughly..." (more)
Key Phrases: cane estates, colored freedmen, colored planters, United States, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

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.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The first complete history of the Caribbean islands--updated through the year 2000.

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.

"A veritable sourcebook of information . . . analysis, description, interpretation . . . interesting and useful."--Library Journal

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Plume (September 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452281938
• ISBN-13: 978-0452281936
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,110 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Organized, History Lesson of the Region, June 2, 2000

By	Luis Hernandez (New York, New York, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and the Carib to the Present (Paperback)

I bought the first edition of this book over 8 years ago, and couldn't let it down. "A Brief History of the Caribbean," by Jan Rogozinski simply is one of the most well researched and organized books on Caribbean history ever published. As a Latin American Studies major in college, this book was very reliable and informative in many of studies, and it allowed me, by utilizing the many maps and charts found in the book, to understand the very nature of Caribbean politics, culture, and most importantly, history. Everything from Pre-Colombian civilization to Post-Independence woes are covered here, and the author has released an updated edition with information as recent as of January 1999. I strongly recommend that readers of this book also read "A Continent of Islands," by Mark Kurlansky to gain more knowledge of this beautiful but troubled region.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A brief history, May 9, 2000

By	C. Lee "Sweet Jamaican" (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and the Carib to the Present (Paperback)

This book serves ideally as a brief overview of Caribbean History. It does not delve deeply into any specific topic. As a history teacher in the Caribbean I would not hesitate to recommend it to persons who are interested in knowing a little about the history of the Caribbean. Due to its simple language, tables and illustrations, I would also recommend it to my students as an introduction to Caribbean History. This book covers a wide range of topics spanning more than 500 years compactly displayed in 324 pages.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly and Accessible, March 11, 2003

By	dennis wentraub (schenectady, new york USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This is a densely documented chronicle that will be of interest to the general reader for its explanation of how the distinct Caribbean island cultures developed from their popular discovery in 1492 to the present. More serious students of the subject will find a veritable library of reference material in the appendix of suggested readings. Visitors to the region will have a better understanding of the similarities and differences of these island communities based on the historical specifics of their political and social history. Today the importance of tourism, offshore banking, "assembly" factories, and indeed the drug trade are evident. But in the beginning it was a lust for gold that mesmerized Spanish explorers. The "Black Legend" that was Spanish settlement brought inhumanity and disease and wiped-out the idigenous peoples. The envy of the English, French, and Dutch helped launch the age of buccaneers who acted more and sometimes less on their behalf to steal Spanish plunder. With a greater European commitment sugar plantations took hold requiring the cheapest form of labor - slavery. Dutch business acumen in international trade, specifically in the crucial areas of lending, insurance, and marketing, enabled them to establish the infrastructure of an industry. The gradual abolition of slavery began in Great Britain, and here organized religion gets credit for bringing credible pressure on the government. Rogozinski's commentary on current issues in the Caribbean basin is just as helpful, as say, in the matter of Cuba. There is little to explain Fidel Castro's early, consistent, deep-rooted enmity towards the United States in these pages. What does seem clear is that U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba was inconsistent and stumbled dreadfully from the Bay of Pigs fiasco to total disorientation during the Jimmy Carter administration:

"The Carter administration approved of some marxist [sic] regimes in the 'Third World' countries and supported some groups claiming to be revolutionary. Andrew Young, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., praised Cuban intervention in Angola. George McGovern and Frank Church, influential Democrat senators, traveled to Cuba and extolled Castro's regime"

Rogozinski's history of the region suggests that Cuba's totalitarian regime is an aberration destined to change with Castro's eventual passing. Forceful, charistmatic leaders are common in Caribbean politics. But ideology, atheism, political repression, and a centrally controlled economy are not.