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The author presents new insights and analyses key events in a lucid and provocative style which will appeal to all those who have an interest in the island's past and present. Hilary Beckles examines how the influences of the Amerindians, European colonisation, the sugar industry, the African slave trade, emancipation, the civil rights movement, independence in 1966 and nationalism have shaped contemporary Barbados. A History of Barbados speaks to the slavery past as passionately as it does to the considerable success of this small nation finding its way in a turbulent, globalised world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Careful, interesting and informative, although flawed
This is a careful, thorough history of Barbados. It is a scholarly work in the best sense. It is interesting, thorough, clear and well written. If you are interested in the history of Barbados, as I am, you will be glad you read the book. It covers the entire history of Barbados, with perhaps only recent history being a little short on detail.
Beckles writes with a point of view: the history of Barbados is a struggle between the slaves and later freed people against a monolithic "plantocracy." The book is not particularly good at sorting out currents and cross-currents in developments, instead forcing everything to fit into this this point of view, whether or not the people or the developments really fit.
Beckles has no capability of seeing the history of Barbados from the viewpoint of people who were not slaves, whether they are rich English people or poor Irish people. People from both of these groups were in Barbados for hundreds of years, in fact they were in Barbados before African slavery. He mentions in passing that many of these people left Barbados in the last half of the twentieth century, without discussing either the number who left or the underlying reasons or implications.
The observations in the book related to economics are simply dreadful. I am a professional economist, so this probably is a bigger deal to me than you unless you are an economist, but Beckles has no grasp of basic economics. Beckles presents simplistic answers when the results of thoughtful analysis would be informative.
The discussion of population and emigration is particularly poor. He sees emigration as all bad. It is hard for those leaving. Still, Beckles does not seem to realize that emigration raised the wages of those remaining in Barbados. He does seem to realize that small peasant holdings did not come into existence in Barbados precisely because the land was productive in producing cash crops on large farms or plantations. Still, rather than examine whether smallholdings were quite unlikely no matter who owned the land when slavery was abolished and what might have happened instead, Beckles blames the evil plantocracy for getting in the way of the former slaves' aspirations and leaves it at that.
This is easily the most careful and thorough history of Barbados available. It is the best place to get the actual developments, even though you will not get a good understanding of why they happened.
I highly recommend it.
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Product Description
The story of 50,000 Irish who were transported as slaves to Barbados and Virginia in the 17th century is chronicled for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A Little Known History
O'Callaghan, Sean. To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland. Dingle, County Kerry: Brandon Books, Mount Eagle Publications, 2000.

Sean O'Callaghan, a former member of the Irish Republican Army, gives an unblinking historical account of the vicious brutality of Cromwell's invasion of Ireland. He also shines a bright light on the British abhorrence of Irish Catholics, citing English pamphlets during the civil war that portrayed Irish Catholics as intellectually and morally inferior. O'Callaghan goes on to detail the systematic, decimation of Irish defenders and the relentless persecution of the innocent others who were transported to Barbados to face forced labor on sugar plantations as slaves. In his description of Irish transport to Barbados, O'Callaghan includes an account that is no less hellish than the horror of the African middle passage. O'Callaghan provides stark accounts of the misery of Irish life on Barbados, describing white slavery and forced labor on sugar plantations. He also gives us a look into the several Irish uprisings in Barbados and the brutality of how the British countered them, employing court-sanctioned torture and executions. O'Callaghan expands his account to include the Irish in Jamaica and America and progresses through emancipation and restoration. He concludes with The Red Legs of Barbados, Irish and Scottish slave descendants and their present-day heirs.

Great book
this is a wonderful book on the little know occurrence of the British shipping the Irish people as slaves to the west indies.

A book of urgent importance


As the Irish finally threaten to allow themselves become assimilated, this book - by an Irishjournalist who workedon Fleet Street, and cannot be accused of blind anti-Britishness-stresses how vitally important it is that our anti-colonial impetus be maintained


I review this book at much greater length in my forthcoming "Ireland: A colony once again?".

Seán O Nualláin Ph.D. 4u Meitheamh (san tSin 35 Bealtaine)2009

Good book
A side of Barbadian history I needed to learn more about. O'Callaghan brings some of the dark to light.

Thoroughly Engrossed
I read Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl a few months ago where I was introduced to the history of Irish Slavery on Barbados.I'm not a history buff and generally do not read non-fiction.Nonetheless, I bought this book because of the reviews and I found myself interested in the subject matter.

After I got through the first chapter I became thoroughly engrossed in the book and was not able to stop reading it.

The author did noticeably repeat a few of his facts throughout the book, but the items were generally repeated because they were relevant in more than one place.His arguments were sometimes made in a manner that made me wonder if he was creating his own history, or if I was getting a picture of what really happened.I would have prefered him to have made his arguments more convincingly and as if they were fact.But, I suppose it is also great to know that there is limited information and he is interpreting the information.

I may just give up reading fiction and switch to history if it is all this interesting.It was a hard book to read.I can not believe people could do this to one another.I suppose that is why is was so gripping. ... Read more

Product Description
Every aspect of Barbadian history, geography, culture and society is covered in this book: from flying fish to Gary Sobers; from chattel houses to rum shops and from the Landship to the six native types of lizard.The sources of local legends and folklore share the page with the story of rum and the origins of the name Bimshire, while the biographies of the great and the good jostle with the humorous stories of more colorful characters. ... Read more

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Here is the first detailed investigation of plantation slave life in Barbados from earliest times until 1838. The authors have visited slave village sites, and their intensive excavation of a slave cemetery has yielded a wealth of material pertaining to mortuary practices and other dimensions of social and material life. Handler and Lange have also examined and extensively integrated the written records to amplify and cross-check their findings.

Based on the methodologies of archaeology, history, and ethnography, Plantation Slavery in Barbados explores new ways to reconstruct the culture of a social group that left few historical records. As a description of the organization and development of the plantation system in Barbados, it is a model work in the burgeoning fields of slavery studies, historical anthropology, and Caribbean history. ... Read more

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Pan-Africanism in Barbados is a pioneering work. This is the first book exclusively on Pan-Africanism within Barbados, an island that is noted for its conservatism. The book traces the development of Pan-Africanism in Barbados during the 20th century, by looking at the major socio-political Pan-African formations in Barbados: the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the Workingmen's Association, Clement Payne and the loose Pan-African organization that played a leading role in workers struggle in 1937 before the disturbances in Barbados, the People's Progressive Movement/Black Star newspaper, Black Nights, the Southern African Liberation Committee, Rastafarians, the Marcus Garvey Hundredth Anniversary Committee, the Clement Payne Movement and the Pan-African Movement of Barbados. The work also examines the creation of the Commission for Pan-African Affairs, a government created institution to helped to promote the cause of Pan-Africanism. Worrell looks at the objectives, activities, rhetoric, weaknesses, important ideologues, what caused the demise of the various groupings and the lessons to be learnt. ... Read more

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This politically focused work covers the latter part of the 18th century in Barbados. ... Read more

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This classic in West Indian historyis invaluable, not only for a study of the history of Barbados, but for its wealth of information about the island. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The History of Barbados, Robert H. Schomburgk
Absolutely Fantastic! This is a must read for anyone needing insight of the early days of Barbados' history. Sir Robert's vivid account will leave you in awe. ... Read more

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Joseph Sturge (1793-1859) and his co-author, Thomas Harvey (1812-1884), were Quaker philanthropists concerned with the treatment of former slaves. Both men had reservations about the 'apprenticeship' system introduced by the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, and between 1836 and 1837 they visited the West Indies to assess the usefulness of the system in action. Their book was first published in 1838, and a second, revised edition (reissued here) came out in the same year. It contains Sturge and Harvey's observations on the failures of apprenticeship. Organised by island and presented in the form of a diary, this detailed account of the lives and living conditions of former slaves illustrates the inherent flaws in the apprenticeship system. This volume proved very influential in the campaign to abolish the system, and provides valuable first-hand information on the contemporary social conditions in the West Indies, and attitudes to former slaves. ... Read more

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Published in 1838 by the American Anti-Slavery Society, who had commissioned their investigative tour, Thome and Kimball's Emancipation in the West Indies immediately became an influential abolitionist text. Many anti-abolitionists in America were prophesying major upheaval should slavery be outlawed. Slavery had been officially abolished in the British West Indies in 1827, and the object of the tour was to assess the results there. The islands visited had followed different models ranging from total abolition to a gradual change through apprenticeship until 1838, and the results had proved those who feared abolition wrong. There had been no insurrection or increase in crime, participation in education and religion among former slaves had generally increased, and only the former slave-owners were unhappy about the economic consequences for their estates. The book contains documentary evidence from residents and officials of the islands, describing the effects of emancipation. ... Read more

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Chattel House Blues is an account of the struggles of Black Barbadians in the 20th century to secure a place within an island their labour had built as a monument to British colonialism. Having fought against the local oligarchy in the streets of Bridgetown in 1937, black workers and their middle class allies, finally secured universal adult suffrage in 1950 and finally independence in 1966 ending the Great House Rule that had begun three hundred years earlier.

But political democracy and national independence did not bring to the new majority community the full feeling of citizenship promised by the founders of the nation. Politically enfranchised but economically disenfranchised and culturally alienated the struggle was rekindled to confront the past and bring justice and equality to the new dispensation; a cultural movement that seeks to centre and promote the African sensibility of the majority community took root and found expression in discourses within the arts, academia, and grass-roots community organisations. ... Read more

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Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865) was a German-born surveyor and traveller. In 1835-1839 he explored British Guiana for the Royal Geographical Society, and in 1840 he was appointed to define its boundaries with Brazil. Knighted for his work, he then visited Barbados for the Barbados General Railway Company, publishing The History of Barbados in 1848. This substantial work contains - unsurprisingly given his background - a great deal more than a chronological narrative of the settlement and history of the island. He begins with a geographical analysis, statistical information, and an examination of the political and sociological state of Barbados. The third part is on the geology, mineral resources, and natural history of the colony. Although physically small, Barbados was extremely important both to British imperial policies and to her economy, playing a key role in the Atlantic trade routes, particularly for sugar. ... Read more

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Charts the changes on natural and cultural landscapes from prehistoric times to 1850 ... Read more

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One of the first things any visitor to Barbados notices is Barbadian youths wearing baseball caps and T-shirts sporting the logos of North American teams; and these days, one is more likely to find an American sitcom on television than a Caribbean program. The Parish behind God's Back describes the social fabric and everyday life of one rural parish on the island, St. Lucy, including its many links to the outside world. It is a contemporary ethnography of the local that takes into account the enormous influence of global factors such as tourism, television, foreign travel, and return migrants.
Written with students in mind, the book contains several unique features. Each chapter blends descriptions of Barbadian culture with comparisons to North America; throughout, the authors include tales of not only their own fieldwork experiences but those of their undergraduate students; and personal narratives are emphasized to engage interest in individuals.
This highly readable and thought-provoking account should appeal to general readers with an interest in the Caribbean as well as to students of anthropology.
George Gmelch is Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Union College. Sharon Bohn Gmelch is Professor of Anthropology and Director of Women's Studies, Union College.
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Customer Reviews (4)

An outstanding portrait of a rural community
The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive ethnographic account of one rural community in the small island nation of Barbados. The intended audience is undergraduate students studying anthropology, therefore it is primarily descriptive, atheoretical, and written in a simple, straight-forward manner. The author begins with a historical overview, one theme being change over time. The second chapter, for example, discusses the demise of the sugar industry, the raison d'etre of the colony, and its recent replacement by tourism. The book very effectively personalizes life in the community by including portraits of individuals, particularly in chapter four. The next chapter is quite appropriately devoted to gender and the life cycle, the relationship between men and women being a key interest of scholars in the Caribbean in recent years. The remainder of the book (almost half) is devoted to a discussion of changes in the community, including the introduction of piped water and its effects, indoor plumbing, kerosene and later propane stoves, ovens, electricity, television, telephones,tourism, and emigration. The book is also effective in placing Barbados within the content of 'the world system'. I found it to be a very easy, pleasant and informative read, suitable for most any reader with an interest in anthropology, social change, globalization, ethnography, or, of course, Barbados and the English-speaking Caribbean. I assigned it for a class on the Caribbean and would use it again, although some students found it dull.

Snoozefest!
This book is terribly boring, and many of the characters have similar names, making it hard to keep track of people. I get that it's not actually a story, and is based on real life events and blahblahblah, but that doesn't make it any more interesting.

Well written, readable ethnographic account of Barbados
Excellent ethnography of the the changes that have been occurring in Barbados since the arrival of Europeans and Africans.The Gmelches take students to the island for a semester every other year so they can learnhow to do ethnographic research in cultural anthropology.They are placedin Bajian homes and live there for ten weeks.The book is well informed bythe students' perspectives. They help us all see what this island is likeand what the life of the islanders has become in the light of tourismdevelopment on the island.The Gmelches write well and the book is easy toread and very informative. I have made the book a required text in one ofmy university, introductory anthropology courses.

An excellent depiction of life in rural Barbados.
The Gmelch's have, for many years, taken mostly white, middle-class, students from the USA to spend a college term living in rural St. Lucy Parish, Barbados. "The Parish Behind God's Back" presents a highly readable, appreciative, ethnographic account of contemporary village life gleaned from the Gmelch's own field work and that of their students. This book makes a very strong case for the value of study abroad schemes as it lets readers understand much about the process by which students gain insights into themselves and their own cultures while learning to live among strangers.

This book is an enjoyable read and highly informative. I have adopted it as a mandatory reading for my university course "Peoples and Cultures of the Caribbean." ... Read more

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As English colonists in the Caribbean quickly became large-scale slaveholders, they established new organizations of labor, new uses of authority, new laws, and new modes of violence, punishment, and repression in order to manage slaves. Concentrating on Barbados and Jamaica, England's two most important colonies, Amussen looks at cultural exports that affected the development of race, gender, labor, and class as categories of legal and social identity in England. She demonstrates that the cultural changes necessary for settling the Caribbean became an important, though uncounted, colonial export. ... Read more

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Dame Nita Barrow was a lifelong champion of justice, community service and human rights. This volume examines how this extraordinary Caribbean woman developed her leadership strategies to contribute to social change and development policy on regional, national and international levels. ... Read more