The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its Peoples

Stephan Palmie and Francisco A. Scarano (editors), The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its Peoples, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011, xv + 660 pp.The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its Peoples edited by anthropologist Stephan Palmie, and historian Francisco A. Scarano, offers an overview of Caribbean history in forty chapters written by an impressive array of experts including historians, sociologists, political scientists, archaeologists, anthropologists, and geographers. Attempting to compile a comprehensive overview of a region as diverse as the Caribbean risks becoming mired in the "myriad backwaters, eddies and obstacles along the way" (p. 1). Yet the editors of this volume have successfully assembled a survey of historical and contemporary issues which serves as an excellent introductory text for newcomers to the region, as well as a resource for more experienced researchers searching for a concise reference to any historical period.The volume's editors have divided the chapters into seven parts. Each of these parts is united thematically and chronologically. This thematic approach is admirable and the contributors have indeed delivered works that are very thorough in details, and adequately discussed without losing sight of the big picture. In addition the writing style is accessible, as the editors restrict the contributors to "a minimum of scholarly clutter" (p. 3). To further acquaint the reader with the region, there are five pages of maps preceding the chapters and an introductory chapter by the co-authors.Part 1 of the work, "The Caribbean Stage", depicts the physical and cultural background in four chapters written by specialists in geography, ecology, prehistoric archaeology, and history. Much of this material is descriptive, as a necessary preamble to the subsequent parts. Only Antonio Curet's chapter on the region's prehistory considers future archaeological findings and analyses. The five chapters in part 2, "The Making of a Colonial Sphere", cover the "Old World" and Atlantic antecedents which shaped the "encounter" during the Columbus voyages and the Spanish colonial project that followed. The authors in this part have attempted a restoration of the agency of indigenous peoples, which can be obscured in the chronicles and secondary sources. Notable in this section is Jalil Sued Badillo's critique of the misuse of the chronicles and early histories which have characterized previous interpretations, as he reminds readers that the documents cannot always be taken at face value. The six chapters that make up part 3, "Colonial Designs in Flux", cover the entry of competing European nation-states (England, France and the Netherlands) to the region as colonial powers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the resultant decline of Spanish hegemony. The myriad and multiscalar transitions with the development of the slave/sugar plantation system as the region's dominant socioeconomic institution are well explored in these chapters.Part 4, "Capitalism, Slavery, and Revolution", which I think includes some of the book's strongest and best contributions, comprises six entries. This section focuses on the crumbling and final collapse of the slave system. …