Islanders in the Stream v. 1; From Aboriginal Times to the End of Slavery: A History of the Bahamian People

Astride the northern portals of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, the Bahama Islands were of significant, if literally marginal, importance during the colonial era, from their ""discovery"" by Columbus in 1492 to their independence from Great Britain in 1973. Yet the archipelago was for so long in the imperial shadow that the record of its peoples - Amerindians, white settlers, black slaves, and their descendants - has been hitherto set mainly in the context of the islands' and islanders' compliance with and usefulness to Britain, Spain, and the United States. Addressing this anomaly, ""Islanders in the Stream"" is a comprehensive chronicle of the Bahamian people. In addition to telling the full history of all the people who have ever inhabited the archipelago. ""Islanders in the Stream"" also describes and explains the evolution of a Bahamian national identity within the comparative framework of neighbouring territories in similar circumstances. Despite its topical emphasis on social relationships and continuities, the book's structure is in the tradition of the chronological narrative. In their approach, however, the authors have eschewed the conventional emphasis on political and economic elites in favour of a more inclusive, integrative, cliometric methodology. The present volume, the first of two, ranges from aboriginal times to 1838. Consisting of three parts, it includes a generous array of maps and tables, figures and illustrations. The first part covers the period 500-1525 and includes accounts of Columbus' first landfall in the New world on San Salvador island, his voyage through the Bahamas, and the disastrous collision of European and native Arawak cultures that soon followed. Covering the islands' initial settlement, the second section ranges from 1647 to 1784 - from the first toeholds of the Spanish, French, and British through the lawless era of pirate rule to Britain's dominance of the islands' colonial enterprises. The third, and largest, section offers a full analysis of Bahamian slave society from 1784 to 1838, highlighting the great influx of British Loyalists and their slaves at the end of the American Revolution and the official end of slavery in 1834. Published to coincide with the quincentennial celebration of Columbus' arrival in the New World, this first volume of ""Islanders in the Stream"" aims not only to mitigate the Eurocentric bias of most of the islands' histories but may also initiate a major reinterpretation of the rich Caribbean past.

About the Author :
Michael Craton is a professor of history at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of several books, including "Empire, Enslavement, and Freedom in the Caribbean" and "A History of the Bahamas." Gail Saunders is the Archivist of the Bahamas in Nassau; her works include "Bahamian Loyalists and Their Slaves" and "Bahamian Society After Emancipation."

Review :
"In ambition, scope, and generous intent, both this book and its companion volume stand out as a special kind of Caribbean history."--"American Historical Review" "This is a rich work, with a capacity to illuminate many poorly understood corners of Bahamian history and to tell us much about the wider Caribbean world . . . In achieving their objectives, Craton and Saunders make excellent use of a wide variety of source materials, from archaeology to more traditional documentary materials."--"Journal of American History" "Unique . . . This work sets a standard for other islanders to aspire to in writing their own histories."--"Library Journal"