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A carregar... Empire's Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day (2014)por Carrie Gibson
Books Read in 2020 (2,044) A carregar...
Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. An interesting read on an area of the world whose history I know very little about. As with books covering vast amounts of time and geography, at times it was a little dry, because of this it took me quite a time to finish it and I read other books in between. Definitely a good starting point for anyone who wants a little more background on the region. The book is also thought provoking in a number of ways, from historical exploitation of slaves and resources right up to the difficult modern day relationship with tourism. Don't expect a thrill ride, but do expect to be educated. The title to this history might be more accurately styled "Empires' Crossroads". There were many powers involved with exploitation in the Caribbean. This is a good running history of the area beginning with Columbus' four voyages. History is so often a litany of horrors. The dispiriting story of violence and greed never lets up. It starts with the tobacco/sugar drug demand in Europe, supported by the purchase of hundreds of thousands of slaves in Africa. It continues today with IMF loans, the cruise and tourist industry, and the destruction of local food production. What spoils the book is the woeful editing. There is an acknowledgement that an editor had a hand in the book's production, but the number of clumsy sentences that plague the book is irritating. It spoils the whole enterprise. sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
Distinctions
Traces the story of the coveted area from the northern rim of South America up to Cuba, exploring its history from the arrival of Columbus through colonialism to the present, offering a panoramic view of this complex region.
In October 1492, an Italian-born, Spanish-funded navigator discovered a new world, thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean. In Empire's Crossroads, Carrie Gibson, unfolds the story of the Caribbean, from Columbus's first landing on the island he named San Salvador to today's islands-- largely independent, but often still in thrall to Europe and America's insatiable desire for tropical luxuries. From the early years of settlement to the age of sugar and slavery, during which vast riches were generated for Europeans through the enforced labour of millions of enslaved Africans, to the great slave rebellions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the long, slow progress towards independence in the modern era, Gibson offers a vivid, panoramic view of this complex and contradictory region. From Cuba to Haiti, from Jamaica to Trinidad, the story of the Caribbean is not simply the story of slaves and masters, but of fortune-seekers, tourists, scientists and pirates. It is not only a story of imperial expansion-- European and American-- but also of life as it is lived in the islands, both in the past and today. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)972.9History and Geography North America Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda West Indies (Antilles) and Bermuda; CaribbeanClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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Then author Carrie Gibson demolished that dreamy, sublime picture of the Caribbean and replaced it with a scene of constant destruction, exploitation, war, slavery and racism that permeated the region for centuries. Once Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of San Salvador, in present-day Bahamas, the world changed forever.
The Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Danish had a continual tug-of-war with the islands. When the rest of Europe saw how prosperous Spain was becoming after the “discovery” of the New World, other countries jumped in on the action and began sending their own ships to collect their share of the riches and splendor. Soon tobacco, sugar, coffee, and rum began to satiate the appetite of the deprived masses of North America and Europe. The hunger and thirst for these vices were first supplied by the blood, sweat and tears of the indigenous and once their population dwindled from disease and brutality African slaves were shipped in.
Gibson details the politics and history of the region like Castro’s Cuba or the tumultuous relationship of Haiti/Dominican Republic. She does a great job at stuffing such a heavy and numerous history into 400 or so pages. The book also offers an extensive bibliography, notes and index section and Gibson does a great job at listing her sources. There are also about 20 or so full color pictures that wonderfully add to the narrative.
I recommend this book to those who are interested in the turbulent and explosive history of the Caribbean. The term “paradise” is a façade and when we can look beyond the fog made by the cruise ships and the all-inclusive resorts then one can view the unfortunate poverty and crime that the tourists don’t see. ( )