The Story of the Jamaican People

Phillip Sherlock and Hazel Bennett

ISBN 10: 9768100303 / ISBN 13: 9789768100306

Published by Ian Randle Publishers, 1998

About this Item

Inventory ID 658103 Trade Paperback 434 pages. Condition Very Good Issued with NO Dust Jacket. Presumed First edition 1998. Beautiful illustrated wraps showcase Clean, tight, square copy with no marks, highlights or bookplates. Book Well kept and carefully stored in unread condition. Slight shelf wear. Bumped corners. The usual curling to paper covers. Not an ex-library, book club or remainder copy. In this highly acclaimed general history of Jamaica, the authors use history, told from below, as a vehicle to bury colonial stereotypes by placing African-Jamaicans as the makers of their history and not the victims.Beginning with the first Jamaicans, the indigenous Tainos, the authors provide a sweeping survey of struggles of the Jamaican people through Spanish and British colonial domination, their resistance to slavery, emancipation, economic empowerment and finally political independence.The book is illustrated with drawings, maps, photographs, prints and copies of offical documents and newspaper material. The general reader will enjoy the evocative style in which the book is written and in which the images of creative writers and artists are blended with quotations from anthropological, sociological and historical sources.

Seller Inventory # 658103

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Story of the Jamaican People
• Publisher: Ian Randle Publishers
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9768100303
• ISBN 13: 9789768100306
• Binding: Hard
• Edition: 22.
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

The Story of the Jamaican People is the first general history of Jamaica to be written in almost 40 years. It differs significantly from earlier "imperial" histories which have been written from the perspective of the coloniser and which have relegated Jamaicans to an inferior and passive role. In this book, the authors offer a new interpretation of Jamaica's history. The central theme is the long struggle of the African-Jamaican against subjugation, injustice, economic deprivation and the fight for full freedom. Sherlock and Bennett recount the epic resistance to slavery; from the acts of sabotage on the estates, the legendary exploits of Maroon heroes Cudjoe, Nanny and Tacky, to the final blow delivered by Sam Sharpe which ended slavery in Jamaica. An underlying theme throughout the book is the centrality of Africa, the original homeland of the African-Jamaican. The memory of Africa's ancient civilisations, its diverse tribes, languages, cultures and religions, sustained the African-Jamaican throughout slavery and remains a positive influence on modern-day Jamaican culture. Although the focus of the story is on African-Jamaican, the authors recognise the significant role played by other ethnic groups - East Indians, Chinese, Lebanese, Syrians and Jews - in the development of modern Jamaica. The Story of the Jamaican People is told in a powerfully evocative and poetic style in which the images of creative writers and artists are blended with extensive quotations from anthropological, sociological and historical sources. The book is copiously illustrated and has an extensive bibliographical and reference section as well as a useful index.

About the Author

Sir Phillip Sherlock (d.2000) was an educator, historian, poet and storyteller. He was former Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica and an author of some 15 books including A Short History of the West Indies with John Parry, which remains a classic text for undergraduate studies in Caribbean history.

Dr Hazel Bennett is a former head of the Department of Library Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.