From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969

From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969 by Eric Williams may be one of the most comprehensive general histories of the Caribbean ensconced in the school of cliometrics. Although I have yet to read Capitalism and Slavery, the magnum opus of the author, From Columbus to Castro is similarly focused on economic history, data illustrated in various tables, and figures. Combining an economic perspective with one of social and political history, Williams successfully weaves together the story of the Caribbean region from 1492 to 1969 in 500 pages without losing sight of the common themes, histories, and experiences that unite the Caribbean. Spanish conquest, piracy, colonialism, slavery, emancipation, the Haitian Revolution, the 'sugar revolution,' conflict beetween European powers, US imperialism, the road to independence in the British Caribbean, and the Cuban Revolution all receive adequate mention and analysis in a way that tends to emphasize the agency of subaltern actors and the social relations in the broader context of European colonialism. Williams goes to great lengths to demonstrate the importance of trade, contraband, mercantilism, and free trade as shifts in relations within the region and a product of and contributor to the growth of capitalism. I won't go into the intense scholarly debate on Eric Williams's approach to the question of British emancipation, but surely Williams deserves broader recognition for initiating the scholarly discussion on the links between capitalism and slavery.