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Diaries of nineteenth-century plantation managers are rare; diaries of French sugar planters are rarer still. Although such works as the diaries of Ella Gertrude Thomas and James Henry Hammond provide insight into the plantation societies of the antebellum South, virtually no contemporary source treats planter-slave relations as extensively, or presents a white planter's views on slave society in as much detail, as do the letters and diary of Pierre Dessalles.

Now Elborg Forster and Robert Forster have translated and edited the most historically and socially significant portions of this unusual work. Previously available only in a four-volume French edition, these materials treat a wide range of topics, including the slave economy, management and socialization of the labor force, the role of free blacks in society, the lives led by the plantation owners, and, significantly, black-white relations before, during, and after emancipation.

"This is a remarkable document, beautifully translated and well presented. I know of nothing else quite like it. The Dessalles diaries are both an account of the daily thoughts and actions of an important colonial planter over the course of an immensely rich and interesting period of societal transformation and a presentation of the life history of Dessalles himself. They contain an immense amount of information about the maintenance of the slave gangs, work routines, punishments and rewards, sugarmaking, relations between planters and merchants, race relations and the nature of the status order in the colonies, kinship, property, inheritance, and insight into the transatlantic character of planter society both in the colony and in France." -- Dale W. Tomich, Binghamton University

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Customer Reviews (1)

Brief Comment
This is an excellent read for people interested in both birds and poetry and fiction. Comprehensive and well written. ... Read more

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These essays on Latin America range from bilingualism to the cult of Garcia lorcha, from US-Cuban relations to Chile's curious love affair with Germany. The author argues that the region has a culture all its own, with its own historical memory, sensibility, and worldview.

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excelent read, very serious treatment
Reviewer: luismendez@codetel.net.do from DOMINICAN REPUBLICIt is thefirst book that i have read which is written by an american who knows whathe is talking about. very serious and concern treatment of topics. i likespecially the part about latin american writers and their changing ideology

LUIS MENDEZ crazzyteacher@hotmail.com

excellent read, very serious treatmen
It is the first book that i have read which is written by an american who knows what he is talking about. very serious and concern treatment of topics. i like specially the part about latin american writers and theirchanging ideology.

LUIS MENDEZ ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Book
This was an awesome book. It is worth the purchase for anyone interested in African American food

A model of modern and seminal sociological scholarship
"African American Foodways: Explorations Of History And Culture" compiled, organized and edited by academician and food history expert Anne L. Bower covers African American cuisines ranging from West African fare, to Caribbean influences, to South American traditions, to contemporary fusion dishes using 'soul food' ingredients that had their origins in American slavery. The seven knowledgeable contributors draw from history, literature, sociology, anthropology, and African-American studies to illustrate and demonstrate how food's material and symbolic values have contributed to African American cultural identities for almost five hundred years. Of special note is Anne Bower's own contribution, 'Recipes for History: the National Council of Negro Women's Five Historical Cookbooks'. "African American Foodways" is a model of modern and seminal sociological scholarship, as well as a welcome and highly recommended addition to academic and community library American History, Culinary History, Popular Culture, and African-American Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists. ... Read more

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The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has a rich history beginning with the first inhabitants, the Taíno indians, to the Spanish conquistadors, African slaves, and numerous waves of immigrants. Culture and Customs of the Dominican Republic is the first book to encompass the vibrancy of the land, its people, and their cultures and customs. It surveys the daily lives of average Dominicans and also the unusual folk practices of the rural populace. Attention is also given to the thriving Dominican community in New York City,the Dominacanyors.

Students and interested readers will be intrigued by this insider's affectionate portrait of the Dominicans. This little-known culture is illuminated with chapters on the land, its history, and people; religions; social customs; media and film; literature; performing arts; architecture, art, sculpture, and photography. Culture and Customs of the Dominican Republic is a major contribution to the understanding of the developing Caribbean and Hispanic peoples.

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Useful Source Of Information
This book provides a good general overview of the history, politics, religion and art of the Dominican Republic. The DR is a vibrant, unique and fascinating nation which relatively little has been written about.

I read this book during a recent visit to the country and found it to be a useful source of information which enriched my travelling experience. But I did find a few shortcomings. For one almost half the book is devoted to the creative arts, with a particular focus on the so-called "high arts" such as theater, sculpture, ballet and opera. I think a more reasonable disturbution would have included more on economics, anthropology and social issues, with about 1/4 of the book devoted to creative endeavors. Also in this artistic section more should have been written about the popular forms of music and dance, such as merengue, bachata and mambo. These performing arts are, by far, the most important to the majority of the Dominican people. They, especially merengue, are also hugely popular and influential throughout Latin America.

In terms of social topics, Brown does best when discussing the complex issue of race in the Dominican Republic. Brown emphasizes the extent to which Dominicans have gone to emphasize their white European heritage and to downplay their black African heritage. This has been increased by the fact that the DR shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Haiti and the DR have a long history of political and military conflict, including a Haitian invasion and conquest of the DR in the early 1800's. Most Dominicans are mulato. But Brown says many darker skinned people prefer to call themselves "indios" rather than identify as black. This despite the fact that the indigenous Tainos were practically wiped out a relatively short time after the arrival of Colombus and the Spanish. My sense is that this is gradually changing, as young people seem less concerned than their elders about skin complexion. But, truthfully, I didn't discuss this topic with enough Dominicans to develop a well informed opinion.

In terms of gender roles Brown has a a rather extreme perspective, saying that "Dominican men treat Dominican women abysmally." However, she may not be far off the mark as practically every Dominican woman I talked to referred to Dominican men as "machista" (sexist). On the other hand, the tourist zones were full of young white women, mostly European, who had hooked up with Dominican boyfriends while on vacation.

A very common social problem that Brown doesn't address is the extremely high percentage of single mothers in the country. This often involves young women who have several children at a young age and then are abandoned, along with the kids, by the boyfriend or husband. Of course, this helps continue the cycle of poverty and leads many women into prostitution and other desperate efforts to provide for their offspring.

There are a few other areas which I found myself disagreeing with Brown's analysis. But for those seeking to learn more about the DR this is one of the few useful sources available and worthwhile picking up from the library though I wouldn't pay the price listed on Amazon. ... Read more

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Presenting an objective, balanced view of Cuba, 80 distinguished scholars and researchers survey the country's tempestuous history from past to present. This wonderfully comprehensive two-volume set also tells the stories of Cuban exiles in the United States and other countries. ... Read more

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Hurricanes created unique challenges for the colonists in the British Greater Caribbean during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These storms were entirely new to European settlers and quickly became the most feared part of their physical environment, destroying staple crops and provisions, leveling plantations and towns, disrupting shipping and trade, and resulting in major economic losses for planters and widespread privation for slaves.

In this study, Matthew Mulcahy examines how colonists made sense of hurricanes, how they recovered from them, and the role of the storms in shaping the development of the region's colonial settlements. Hurricanes and Society in the British Greater Caribbean, 1624--1783 provides a useful new perspective on several topics including colonial science, the plantation economy, slavery, and public and private charity. By integrating the West Indies into the larger story of British Atlantic colonization, Mulcahy's work contributes to early American history, Atlantic history, environmental history, and the growing field of disaster studies.

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The notion of the cultural politics of social movements provides a lens for analyzing emergent discourses and practices grounded in society and culture, the state and political institutions, and the extent to which these may unsettle, or be reinscribed into, the dominant neoliberal strategies of the 1990s. Index. Notes. ... Read more

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A good book
Needed the book for grad school.It was in good shape and easy to navigate.This is a helpful book for anyone studying Latin American anthro.It was organized well, and the reader can also pick out only the chapters needed, when optional, according to region or subject matter.

great empirical evidence for political anthropological theory
Cultures of Politics, Politics of Cultures is a very useful book for any political theorist, activist, or anthropologist interested in Latin America.It provides a wide array of cross-cultural examples which deliver empirical substance for the somewhat nebulous arguments of political theory.I would highly recommend it. ... Read more

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Soon Come Home to This Island traces the representation of West Indian characters in British children's literature from 1700 to today. This book challenges traditional notions of British children's literature as mono-cultural by illuminating the contributions of colonial and postcolonial-era Black British writers. The author examines the varying depictions of West Indian islands and peoples in a wide range of picture books, novels, textbooks, and popular periodicals published over the course of more than 300 years. An excellent resource for any children's literature student or scholar, the book includes a chronological bibliography of primary source material that includes West Indian characters and twenty black-and-white illustrations that chart the changes in visual representations of West Indians over time. ... Read more

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The Cambridge Guide to African and Caribbean Theatre is an exploration of the rich diversity of theatrical traditions in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Beautifully illustrated throughout, the book traces the ancient and complex roots of African theatre - still evident in community festivals and religious rituals - through the centuries of colonial domination, to the African diaspora and its manifestation in Caribbean theatre. Drawing upon the parent Cambridge Guide to Theatre, material is updated and refocused to offer a specific view of traditional and contemporary theatre activity in over 40 countries. National essays are followed by alphabetically arranged entries on the major figures in the theatrical arts of that country, whilst additional entries concentrate on specific aspects of theatre, from rituals and festivals to theatre companies and language. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1125 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

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Although the religions of the Caribbean have been a subject of popular media, there have been few ethnographic publications. This text is a much-needed and long overdue addition to Caribbean studies and the exploration of ideas, beliefs, and religious practices of Caribbean folk in diaspora and at home. Drawing upon ethnographic and historical research in a variety of contexts and settings, the contributors to this volume explore the relationship between religious and social life. Whether practiced at home or abroad, the contributors contend that the religions of Caribbean folk are dynamic and creative endeavors that have mediated the ongoing and open-ended relation between local and global, historical and contemporary change. ... Read more

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Chapters: Flag of the Cayman Islands, Culture of the Cayman Islands, Coat of Arms of the Cayman Islands, Beloved Isle Cayman, National Trust for the Cayman Islands, Batabano, Cayman National Cultural Foundation. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Flag of the Cayman Islands was adopted in 14 May 1958 after the colony was officially granted a coat-of-arms. Prior to that, the Islands had used the British flag for all official occasions. In 1999, the white disc was removed and the arms were more than doubled in size, although the pre-1999 flag remains popular and is still used on some official occasions. During the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, and during the 2010 Winter olympics, the Cayman Islands team marched in under the pre-1999 flag. Common with most British overseas territories The Governor's flag is a Union Flag defaced with the coat-of-arms. The governor's flag was also changed in 1999, the arms were made bigger and a golden ring was added. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=474875 ... Read more

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A colonial discourse has perpetuated the literary notion of islands as paradisal. This study explores how the notions of island paradise have been represented in European literature, the oral and literary indigenous traditions of the Caribbean and Sri Lanka, a colonial literary influence in these islands, and the literary experience after independence in these nations. Persistent themes of colonial narratives foreground the aesthetic and ignore the workforce in a representation of island space as idealized, insular, and vulnerable to conquest; an ideal space for management and control. English landscape has been replicated in islands through literature and in reality - the 'Great House' being an ideological symbol of power.Island Paradise: The Myth investigates how these entrenched notions of paradise, which islands have traditionally represented metonymically, are contested in the works of four postcolonial authors: Jamaica Kincaid, Lawrence Scott, Romesh Gunesekera, and Jean Arasanayagam, from the island nations of the Caribbean and Sri Lanka. It analyzes texts which focus on gardens, island space, and houses to examine how these motifs are used to re-vision colonial/contested sites. This book examines the relationship between landscape and identity and, with reference to Homi K. Bhabha, considers how these writers offer an alternative space for negotiating the ambivalence of hybridity. ... Read more

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In Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar Walton Look Lai offers the firstcomprehensive study of Asian immigration and the indenture system in the entire British WestIndies—with particular emphasis on the experiences of indentured laborers in the major receivingcolonies of British Guyana, Trinidad, and Jamaica. Exploring living and working conditions aswell as the makeup of immigrant communities and their cultures, Look Lai offers a "dialecticalpluralist" model of Caribbean acculturation that contrasts with the more familiar "melting pot" or"pure pluralist" model. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Wealth of Information
This is not your Alex Haley "Roots" type book. It is closer to a reference manual. This book provides a wealth of information on the Chinese and Indian migrants to the West Indies. There is extensive research on the routes, places of origins, and multiple census type information that does not seem to be taught these days. Highly recommended!

Family ties to ex-indentured servants
For those wanting to explore an indepth account of indenture this is a reliable and enlightning source.If you have a passion for Caribbean literature, having read this book will make the Caribbean novels you read come alive, because it gives the historical account of how the Chinese and Indian migrants arrived in the West Indies and of all the vicissitudes they endured. For many years the focus of intelectuals had centered on the arrival of the African slaves and their work in the sugar cane plantations of the West Indies.Now, Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar allows us to have a full picture of the migrants that constitute the greater part of the population of former colonies like Trinidad and British Guiana, among others, and establishes a basis for comparison between the two waves of migrations: the imposed African migration and the latter "voluntary" one described in this book.

Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar by Walton Look Lai
This is an excellent book for the student or a casual reader who wishes to learn the background of their ancestors who were transported to the Caribbean as indentured laborers. It is probably the best account that I have ever read and it comfirms some of the stories I heard from my mother and grandmother.It has led me to seek other books on the subject from other sources and even to become curious of the history of India from where my ancestors came, from their accounts, willingly in search of a better life, which they apparently found after the initial sacrifice. We their decendants further emigrated to the USA in search of better education and lifestyles which we in turn found, and are happy with. Now I am curious of the sacrifices they made to make all of this possible.

ANCESTORSBEGINHERE
THIS IS A TRUESTORY OF THE PEOPLES THAT CAME TO THE ISLAND,I AM AN EAST INDIAN AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT I FINALY CAN HAVE A BOOK THAT RELATES TO MY EAST INDIAN ANCESTORS.AND IF LUCK HAS ITS WAY,KNOW THE NAMES OF MY GREAT GREAT GRAND PARENTS THAT JOURNEYED ACROSS THE VAST SEAS TO MAKE A HOME IN THE WEST INDIES.

ANCESTORSBEGINHERE
THIS IS A TRUESTORY OF THE PEOPLES THAT CAME TO THE ISLAND,I AM AN EAST INDIAN AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT I FINALY CAN HAVE A BOOK THAT RELATES TO MY EAST INDIAN ANCESTORS.AND IF LUCK HAS ITS WAY,KNOW THE NAMES OF MY GREAT GREAT GRAND PARENTS THAT JOURNEYED ACROSS THE VAST SEAS TO MAKE A HOME IN THE WEST INDIES. ... Read more

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The British Virgin Islands (BVI) markets itself to international visitors as a paradise. But just whose paradise is it? Take Me to My Paradise looks at the many players in the BVI tourism culture, including immigrants working in a tourism economy, nationalists struggling to maintain some control, and the anthropologist trying to make sense of it all. The result is a richly detailed and accessible ethnography on the impact of tourism on a country that came into being as a tourist destination. ... Read more