Brief Histories-A Brief History of the Caribbean Indispensable for Travellers

A concise yet comprehensive history of the Caribbean's long and fascinating history, from pre-contact civilisations to the present day

Intended for travellers, but of inestimable value to anyone looking for an overview of the Caribbean, this brief yet comprehensive history is focused on the past few centuries. It includes the states on the Caribbean's continental shores, as the history of the region does not make much sense without factoring in their ambitions, notably those of the United States.

From looking at pre-contact civilisations, such as the Maya, in Central America, Black moves on to the arrival of Europeans from the late fifteenth century, when the region's history becomes one of exploration, conquest and settlement. He charts the rise of slave economies, cultivating sugar and coffee, and the Caribbean's place in the Atlantic oceanic world.

Black examines the successful eighteenth-century rebellion against European power in Haiti and the transformation of the region through the incorporation of Louisiana, Florida and Texas into the United States; also the impact of Bolivar's rebellion in Spanish America, and the end of slavery in the Btish Caribbean.

The focus in the first half of the twentieth century is on the impact of growing US power and fresh tensions and conflict brought by the Cold War, a period which also saw the rise of a formidable leisure industry. Finally, he assesses the Caribbean today and the region's future prospects.

A concise history of the Caribbean's long and fascinating history, from pre-contact civilisations to the present day

This is a concise history, intended for travellers, but of inestimable value to anyone looking for an overview of the Caribbean and its mainland coastal states, with a focus on the past few centuries.

The history of the Caribbean does not make much sense without factoring in the cities - Pensacola, New Orleans, Galveston - and the ambitions of the states on its continental shores, notably the United States.

This account is grounded in a look at the currents and channels of the sea, and its constraints, such as the Mosquito Coast, followed by the history of 'pre-contact' civilisations, focusing on the Maya and the Toltec Empire.

With the arrival of the Europeans, from the late fifteenth century to the early years of the seventeenth century, the story becomes one of exploration, conquest and settlement. Black charts the rise of slave economies and the Caribbean's place in the Atlantic world, also the arrival of the English - Hawkins and Drake - to challenge the Spanish.

He examines the sugar and coffee slave economies of the English, French, Spanish and Dutch, also the successful rebellion in Haiti in the eighteenth century, and how the West Indies were further transformed by the Louisiana Purchase, the American conquest of Florida and the incorporation of Texas.

He discusses the impact of Bolivar's rebellion in Spanish America, the end of slavery in the British Caribbean, and war between Mexico and America; also the defeat of the South by the Union, the American takeover of the Panama Canal project from France, and the Spanish-American War.

The first half of the twentieth century focuses on growing US power: intervention in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; Cuba as an American protectorate, and civil wars in Mexico.

The Cold War brought new tensions and conflict to the region, but the same period also saw the rise of the leisure industry. The last part of the book looks at the Caribbean today - political instability in Venezuela and Colombia, crime in Mexico, post-Castro Cuba - and the region's future prospects.