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Empire's Crossroads

The Caribbean From Columbus to the Present Day

Carrie Gibson

$11.99

Paperback

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English
Macmillan
01 July 2014
This is a definitive history of the Caribbean by a brilliant young historian.

In October 1492, an Italian-born, Spanish-funded navigator discovered a new world, thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean. In Empire's Crossroads, Carrie Gibson, unfolds the story of the Caribbean from Columbus' first landing on the island he named San Salvador to today's islands - largely independent, but often still in thrall to Europe and America's insatiable desire for tropical luxuries.

From the early years of settlement to the age of sugar and slavery, during which vast riches were generated for Europeans through the enforced labour of millions of enslaved Africans, to the great slave rebellions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the long, slow progress towards independence in the modern era, Gibson offers a vivid, panoramic view of this complex and contradictory region.

From Cuba to Haiti, from Jamaica to Trinidad, the story of the Caribbean is not simply the story of slaves and masters - but of fortune-seekers, tourists, scientists and pirates. It is not only a story of imperial expansion - European and American - but also of life as it is lived in the islands, both in the past and today.

By:  
Imprint:   Macmillan
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Edition:   Open market ed
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 153mm,  Spine: 35mm
Weight:   684g
ISBN:   9781447260332
ISBN 10:   1447260333
Pages:   464
Publication Date:  
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Carrie Gibson completed her doctorate, on the Spanish Caribbean, at the University of Cambridge. She has worked as a journalist for the Guardian and spent many months living in the Caribbean researching in the archives of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republican. She lives in London and Washington D.C. This is her first book.

Reviews for Empire's Crossroads: The Caribbean From Columbus to the Present Day

Vivid and thought-provoking Spectator Carrie Gibson manages to weave 500 years of complex history into a brilliant narrative ... [A] strikingly assured debut. Observer Carrie Gibson has written a compelling history of the Caribbean, rightly placing it at the heart of European imperialism. This is a gripping account by a gifted scholar and story-teller -- Tristram Hunt A fine introduction to the history of a turbulent and fascinating region The Times Carrie Gibson has written a judicious, readable and extremely well-informed account of a part of the world whose history is seldom acknowledged. Too many people know the Caribbean only as a tourist destination; she takes us, instead, into its fascinating, complex and often tragic past. No vacation there will ever feel quite the same again. -- Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost Sharp, gripping ... packed with the stories of tyrants and insurgents, and images of violence and beauty ... A great read about some fantastically absorbing - and to many people, little-known - history ... An exceptionally impressive debut. -- Alex von Tunzelman Literary Review


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