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Jamaica. History of Jamaica, Politics of Jamaica,Monarchyof Jamaica, Geography of Jamaica, Demographics ofJamaica,Jamaican diaspora, Culture of Jamaica, Music of Jamaica,Jamaican cuisine, History of Jamaican athletics,Cricket inthe West Indies, Economy of Jamaica, Transport inJamaica,Railways of Jamaica, Jamaica Defence Force,Jamaican(language), Jamaica Constabulary Force, Bob Marley ... Read more

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Culture of Jamaica,Jamaica,Greater Antilles,Rastafarimovement,Jamaican English,Jamaican (language),Reggae,Socamusic,Bahá'í Faith in Jamaica,Jamaica nationalfootball team ... Read more

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"A spirited and absorbing history of emancipation, oppression, and rebellion in the British empire." -- C. Vann Woodward.

"Holt greatly extends and deepens our understanding of the emancipation experience when, for just over a century, the people of Jamaica struggled to achieve their own vision of freedom and autonomy against powerful conservative forces." -- David Barry Gaspar.

Customer Reviews (2)

Black, Jamaican politics are not over...
An excellent book, well researched in most parts and drawing on memory of information gleaned broadly but from lost sources for the rest (which the author admits in his introductory remarks), presenting a black history of a dark era of human history.

Big Book, Big Implications
Holt studies Jamaica,from the emanicpation of the slaves to the labor problems faced by ex-slaves in the 1930s.But the narrow focus is misleading - really Holt writes about "the problem of freedom:"the tast of socializing ex-slaves into becoming productive laborers - theproblem of convincing freedpeople that it's in their best interest to laborfor tiny wages, for the profit of the wealthy. Another major focus is theinherent contradictions of classical liberalism - economic freedom does andalways has required brutal and blatent inequalities in the political andsocial spheres.

Certainly not everyone will agree with Holt, but hisargumentation and analysis are impeccable. If you believe thatself-determination and free enterprise are practically the same thing - orif you think that capitalism and democracy are one and the same - you mustread Holt's book. ... Read more

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The authorship of this book (by a Jesuit ethnologist) makes some of the editorial content suspect. However, the author spent time in the field in Jamaica. His library research was extensive and used rare and unique sources such as contemporary newspapers, legal archives and early accounts. Williams keeps his skepticism active while remaining open-minded. On the downside there are some passages which could be interpreted as racist (in hindsight), so the usual disclaimers apply.

122 pages.

All that said, this book remains a good introduction to the outlines of this subject. If you've ever listened to a Reggae song about 'Duppies' and wondered what they were talking about, now you'll know. ... Read more