Product Description
BAHAMA SAGA is a chronicle of the human presence on a uniquearchipelago of the Americas. The story takes its title from a fewinvented characters and the romantic and beautiful country of seven hundredsub-tropical islands.The confetti of Bahamian islands has, at different times, been a locusfor the three races of the planet. After the original Amerindian inhabitantsperished, the Bahamas remained uninhabited for nearly 150 yearsuntil people from Bermuda - largely of English and African stock -re-settled the islands commencing in 1648. Not long afterwards many more Africans were brought to the Bahamas in bondage. Their descendants today hold the destiny of the islands in their hands.The geographical location of the Bahamas allowed the islands to play a brief, butimportant part in the history of the modern world.  The eastern islands protrude out into the Atlantic Ocean so as to make them one of the nearest partsof the Americas to Europe andit was here that an explorer from Europe madea historic landfall at what, for him at least, was a 'New World'. It was just over five hundred years agothat Christopher Columbus in 1492 'sailedthe ocean blue'. The islands on the western side are a mere 50 miles fromthe United States. Throughout time, events on the North American continent have had amajor affect upon the history of the Bahama Islands asthis well-written and intriguing story relates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Epic Story of the Bahamas.
A saga that fully deserves the label `epic'. In retelling the two thousand year story of The Bahamas and its people, Grand Bahamian maven Peter Barratt imaginatively fills in the gaps where the historical record is silent or unclear. For the modern period he heightens the narrative by presenting real-life characters in thinly veiled disguise. If this astute mixture of fact and fiction is what the public wants, Bahama Saga could well become a best seller of the stature of Robert Wilder's, Wind from the Carolinas.

Like slogging through freshman english papers...
While the author's enthusiasm for the history of the Bahamas is clear, and he seems to have done his research, the poor writing and apparent lack of editing renders the reading experience almost excruciating.Wading through grammatical blunders and awkward language (and even repeated sentences and paragraphs - seriously!), I found the compulsion to edit the work overpowered my ability to attend to the narrative.
The ineffective attempt to blend fact and fiction is also incredibly distracting.I kept finding myself wondering which is which, rather than simply going along for the experience.I held out for 65 pages before encountering a sex scene so jarring in its awkwardness that I felt the urge to join a convent.That was the last time I picked the book up.
I felt pretty duped by spending a sum of money on this book, and in sharing my frustration with a colleague, she mentioned that Amazon now sells self-published books.I now feel like an idiot for not noticing the title of the publisher, "1st Books Library," whose website calls out for unpublished authors to send their manuscripts.Apparently those manuscripts are sent straight to press, evading the scrutiny of any of those pesky interfering editors.Note to self: check out the publisher next time.

Barratt's "Saga" Lives Up To Its Name
Peter Barratt's Bahama Saga: The Epic Story of the Bahama Islands lives up to its title. The epic is a sensuous sweep ofBahamian history, a vividresult of his love affair with the Islands. From the first chapter, when humans set foot in the Americas, to the last chapter, when the flag of Independence lifts into the Bahamian sky, Barratt's epic is richly textured with historical detail and human motivation.
"Saga" is a wonderful cross-genre, a blurring of distinctions between genres as with opera and straight play. Barratt's cast of fictional personalities plays against the backdrop of exciting episodes in Bahamian history complete with their choruses of fated Lucayans, lustful Spaniards, adventurous Bermudians, bold pirates, enslaved Africans, exiled Loyalists, thirsty rum-runners, sun-worshipping tourists.
The book is structured in two parts. In Part I, the Lucayans discover and colonize the Bahamas; Columbus and the Conquistadors re-discover and de-populate the Bahamas.Part II follows the major waves of re-colonization by the Eleutheran Adventurers, African Slaves and American Loyalists; the book closes with chapters onEmancipation and the political/economic development of the Bahamas.
The author uses an informal voice, even for the historical narration. In true "saga" fashion, asides and digressions abound to enlighten and amuse. In much the style of classic epics or 18th century English novels, Barratt's historical and fictional narratives mix and mingle as he traces two families of different races down through the centuries until they merge at the end.
Barratt creates the story of Tsgot, the first explorer to discover the Bahama Islands. Tsgot's ancestors were the Asians who crossed the land bridge to discover and settle the continents of North and South America and later the major islands of the Caribbean. Once colonization of the Bahamas began and trade was established, other Lucayan adventurers set out in their dugout canoes to explore more islands. In his depiction of this Lucayan odyssey, Barratt evokes magical images with sumptuous descriptions of the pristine islands and a thesaurus of colors to paint the water. As he introduces each island discovered, he forecasts the role those islands will play to future visitors as the centuries move on. One island, Grand Bahama, is significant in that today The Lucayan National Park, founded by the author, preserves a 40-acre portion of the "golden isle" first enjoyed by the Lucayans as their canoes rode the "crystal clear waters" of the"fast-moving creek ... arched over with vegetation," which was for them and for us "a magical journey." ... Read more

Product Description
Designed as a lively encyclopedia, this includes all the elements that constitute the heritage of modern Bahamians: historical, geographical, economic, political, social and cultural. Key events, institutions, customs and personalities are not just described but evaluated. Yet, as even a dipping will show, this A-Z is far from being entirely strait-laced. Apart from heroes and high-fliers there are plenty of eccentrics and even a few villains. Compiled by the premier historian of "The Bahamas" and four years in the making, this sparkling reference book is the distillation of research and analysis spread over half a century. Printed in colour and beautifully illustrated, it is aimed at both fact-seekers and browsers. It will interest and profit Bahamians, visitors and armchair travellers alike."Macmillan Caribbean A-Zs" are a comprehensive series of reference books that provide an invaluable and entertaining source of information to the countries that comprise the Caribbean region. Highly illustrated and in full-colour throughout, they are a unique 'one-stop' resource to the cultural heritage of a fascinating and richly diverse part of the world. ... Read more

Product Description
Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People Volume 2 examines the social developments of the Bahamas from 1834 to the present. An eminent product of the New Social History, the volume recounts adjustments to emancipation made by former masters and former slaves between 1834 and 1900, traces the process of modernization between 1900 and 1973, and concludes with a candid study of social change since 1973, current problems, and an analysis of what makes the Bahamas and Bahamians distinctive in the world. The authors skillfully interweave broad historical narrative with details drawn from travelers' accounts, autobiographies, private letters, and reconstructed official dispatches and newspaper reports. Lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs and original maps, this book is a model for national histories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Landmark Bahamian Social History
The first volume is heavy on census analysis in later chapters. Otherwise, it's an eminently readable social history of Bahamian islanders to the formal end of slavery. Particularly fascinating and well-done are the opening chapters on Lucayan origins, lifeways, and ultimately fatal convergence with imperial Spain.

The second volume of Craton's social history of Bahamians is immensely, intricately detailed--to the point that it's difficult for a casual reader to retain interest. Since it provides a wealth of statistical information and analyses of sociological trends, the book is probably best suited to dedicated scholars of Bahamian or Caribbean history. As a general overview of Bahamian history from the 1830s to the present, this book is likely too academic and detailed for the purpose.

A wonderful History of the Bahamas
I used this book in 2004 in a Bahamian History course. It is an excellent book, well researched, interesting photos and really gets into the depth of where Bahamians came from. It is organized by topics according to the many 'eras' the Bahamas went through from the Emancipation of slaves to the early 1995. It sheds light on the events which have shaped the ideologies and customs of Bahamians. It also makes very good reading.

nders In The Stream
As a veteran of five trips to the Bahamas with my wife, I would recommend this book as an in depth detailed historical work about the Bahamas.

Many things in the book explain the modern make up of the Bahamas; such asEnglish names from the American loyalists who arrived after the AmericanRevolution and the mixed agricultural results which are still a problemtoday due to the difficulty of growing crops in very inhospitable soil.

As mentioned in the book they grow pineapples on Elutherabrought there bysome displaced Germans. (We had some of these pineapples and they arewonderfully sweet)!

Unfortunatly the authors talk little about theAbacos which have at least as colorful a history as Eleuthera and I feelthat is a minor negative. The coverge of the pirate era is verydetailed and interesting while the records and descriptions of slaverypaint a sad picture of that time. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Loyalist Gazette, published by United Empire Loyalists' Association on September 22, 1996. The length of the article is 1103 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. 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.

Citation Details
Title: God's own island: Man-O-War Cay, Bahamas.
Author: Joe Fisher
Publication: The Loyalist Gazette (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 1996
Publisher: United Empire Loyalists' Association
Volume: 34Issue: 2Page: 24-5

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
In an exploration of the oceanic connections of the Atlantic world, Michael J. Jarvis recovers a mariner's view of early America as seen through the eyes of Bermuda's seafarers. The first social history of eighteenth-century Bermuda, this book profiles how one especially intensive maritime community capitalized on its position "in the eye of all trade."



Jarvis takes readers aboard small Bermudian sloops and follows white and enslaved sailors as they shuttled cargoes between ports, raked salt, harvested timber, salvaged shipwrecks, hunted whales, captured prizes, and smuggled contraband in an expansive maritime sphere spanning Great Britain's North American and Caribbean colonies. In doing so, he shows how humble sailors and seafaring slaves operating small family-owned vessels were significant but underappreciated agents of Atlantic integration.



The American Revolution starkly revealed the extent of British America's integration before 1775 as it shattered interregional links that Bermudians had helped to forge. Reliant on North America for food and customers, Bermudians faced disaster at the conflict's start. A bold act of treason enabled islanders to continue trade with their rebellious neighbors and helped them to survive and even prosper in an Atlantic world at war. Ultimately, however, the creation of the United States ended Bermuda's economic independence and doomed the island's maritime economy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Reflection on history and society
Very informative book regarding social culture of the past. Puts society into a time perspective. ... Read more

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Product Description
This book examines the social aspects of Bahamian society between the early 19th and mid-20th centuries, advancing our knowledge of Bahamian history and helping to locate the Bahamas within the regional and historical context of the West Indies. It shows how, despite the absence of sugar and a commercial rather than agricultural economy, the Bahamas' social development bears great similarities to other countries of the Caribbean in terms of the extreme poverty experienced, the oppressive socioeconomic conditions and acute racial and social divisions that developed in the post-emancipation era.

The first part of the book details life and culture within the black community and includes chapters on the colored middle class in the late 19th to mid-20th century, the role of women and aspects of African-Bahamian cultures during the same time. The middle section underscores the effects of Prohibition, including blockade running and alcohol tourism, and the impact of traditional tourism on Bahamian society. The final part of the book covers the historical events that arose out of the growing dissatisfaction among blacks with respect to racism and political and economic marginalization, including the riot of 1937 and the strikes of 1942 and 1958. ... Read more

Product Description
"The Harbour Island Story" is a well documented, informative and entertaining account of the island which was once second in importance to New Providence within the Bahamian archipelago. Drawing on new material from official, church, oral and private sources, and containing numerous illustrations, this book adds greatly to our knowledge of Harbour Island specifically and The Bahamas generally and is a significant addition to Bahamian historiography. "The Harbour Island Story" is a must for Bahamians, visitors, scholars, students and the general public. ... Read more