From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969

Excellent book for history purposes!

The content is fine, the printing is horrible

All I can say is awesome, awesome, awesome. Eric Williams is a master author. At times, he writes like a sociologist, and at other times, he writes like an economist. Chapter upon chapter is a systematic construction of the underlying impetus of the Spanish venture to the New World through the British ascendancy in the Caribbean.

Now I can believe that Caucazoids won't read this book. It exposes the oppressive nature of that race of people...globally. It's a necessary read for Black and brown people to learn what they don't teach you in school. You want some "American" history? Read this book and you will find out who your enemy truly is.

Great history. I was so shocked. My question is why are we holding prisoners in Cuba while we have trade embargoes? There is more that meets the eye that I'm sure this book has not addressed. Nehesu Nag-Negus El "Searching for Moor" showed this book on the show from afromations. com

If you're looking for a comprehensive political and economic history of the Caribbean, look no further. I bought this book to read before and during a trip to the US Virgin Islands, and it did not disappoint. It's a little dry at times and gets bogged down in stats and figures, but overall, it's worth the effort. Williams finishes it up with a nice thesis summary in the last chapter. FYI, this book only runs through the late 60s, so don't expect to read about anything after that.

This is a master book. Tank you to permit me to have read such monument of the history of slavery in Caribbean region. I give you 5 stars, and hope briefly read his classic capitalism and slavery for a good price. Do you can find me a used one for a good price? Well, to clarify my thoughts I must reaffirm that Eric Williams is a giant of the history of human being no matter the colour of his skin.joao matos

While the book is impressive in its collection of statistical data, it's short on portraying an engaging history of the area. Yes, sugar--and therefore slavery--are hallmarks of Caribbean history. Yes, colonial powers used their colonies (Caribbean and otherwise) for the benefit of the home country (mercantilism, as Williams describes it). And yes, as the Spanish Empire waned, France and England vied for control of and access to the New World. Aside from that, I don't feel I know much more about this part of the world than I did before the book's 515 pages.The fact that it was orignally published in 1970 is also a drawback--it doesn't provide much of a springboard for understanding the intervening 40 years. As mentioned in other reviews, the book also assumes the reader's familiarity with 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th-century European history as well as providing an unneeded amount of import/export and demographic data. I would recommend finding a shorter book for the major points of the area's 500-year history, of which sugar, slavery, and mercantilism are the keys, and a more recent and in-depth history of how the Caribbean has evolved since the 1960s.

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