A real insight into Barbados history
As a regular visitor to Barbados, I was looking for a book that would give me an insight into the history of the country. This book provides a really interesting account of the history of the island, from the first European settlers up to the modern day – all from the perspective of one family.
Beginning with the arrival on the island of the author’s first ‘traceable’ ancestor from England in the 1630s, a great deal of the early story is somewhat guesswork based on other sources. It is a shame that more of this detail has now been lost, but this is inevitable. As a simple description of the author’s family tree, this book would be fairly short and much of it is devoted to general discussion of Caribbean history.
As little evidence exists for the author’s own family from the 18th century, some periods are rather sketchy. We do not know how the family treated their slaves but a vivid picture of the terrible conditions on other plantations is described.
This book has certainly given me an insight into the history of Barbados. My only criticism would be that the book is a little expensive and for kindle reading the illustrations are too small to read.
katieshellard 