From Occupation to Independence: A History of the Peoples of the English-Speaking Caribbean Region

With this volume Richard Hart provides a beginner’s guide to the history of the peoples of the English-speaking West Indies. Spanning five centuries, Hart’s concise history focuses on the impact and legacy of the slave trade and its intrinsic contribution to contemporary West Indian politics and culture. Hart assesses the role of blacks themselves in achieving the abolition of slavery, and in so doing seeks a balance between the common perceptions of greedy African chiefs selling their kith and kin for beads and trinkets, the heroism of early anti-slavery campaigners such as William Wiberforce, and the role played by the Pan-African movement. Hart examines the motivation and courage of those who resisted and rebelled and assesses the contributions of the various movements which waged fierce guerrilla warfare against the colonists on many Caribbean islands until national independence was achieved. This volume seeks to go beyond existing histories of the Caribbean to explore how the impact of slavery has been reflected in West Indian popular culture in the 20th century.