Caribbean Slave Society and Economy: A Student Reader

By Hilary McD. Beckles

Book Overview

Because the institution of slavery has exerted such momentous force in shaping the socioeconomic and political history of the Caribbean, much of the region's historical writing has focused on slavery. Caribbean Slave Society and Economy brings together into one volume the main themes of the recent research on slavery, and explores the patterns and forms of socioeconomic life and activity that molded the region's heterogeneous slave societies.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565840852
• ISBN13: 9781565840850
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.1" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

An excellent source book which makes the research task easy

Hilary Beckles and Verene Shepherd have managed to package in one cover many of the definitive sources on the history of Caribbean Slave Society. They take the student researcher from the Amerindian origins of Caribbean society and close by paying close attention to the tensions which arose in the slave societies of the region. As in most sources of this type, the student is not expected to find the last word on the topics presented. However, in the wide sweep of coverage, the authors manage to expose the student to the cutting edge of the research and, indeed, come as close to being the definitive source as one can come. Finally, there is much here for students of North American slavery. Since the Caribbean colonial experience mirrors so much of the colonial experience of the northern neighbours, it is not surprising that the similarities will have relevance there as well.