Marcus Mosiah Garvey...his name is legend from the Americas to Zanzibar. One of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, Garvey's powerful message of black pride remains as relevant today as it was almost 100 years ago. Across generations and continents, leaders like Malcolm X; Kwame Nkrumah; Jomo Kenyatta and musical icon Bob Marley readily acknowledge the influence of Garvey's philosophy on their lives, thoughts and actions.

Between 1939 and 1947, the Caribbean island of Jamaica – then a British colony – was haven or detention centre for thousands of displaced Europeans; an often under-recognized contribution to the Allied war effort. A civilian camp accommodated evacuees from Gibraltar and, belatedly, provided sanctuary for groups of mainly Jewish refugees. Others who had fled Europe ahead of looming fascist threats would be interned in military detention camps whose populations were swollen by German and Italian civilians from several British West African colonies, co-mingled for convenience with hundreds of German and Italian merchant mariners captured at sea during the early months of the war. World War II Camps in Jamaica disentangles the conditions under which these various populations were held, drawing on primary records, personal accounts and media coverage; noting differences and similarities in their management; considering the camps and their populations within the local context; and considering the extent of interface and interaction that ensued despite official efforts to keep the incoming populations separate and transitory.