This carefully researched study is the first to chronicle the history of Allied involvement in the defense of British, French, and Dutch possessions in the Caribbean. The study is extremely well researched and well written. . . . The definitive work in this particular area of historical research, based on all available sources in English, French, and Dutch, published and unpublished. Choice Although few military campaigns were fought in the Caribbean, the region had strategic importance throughout World War II for the United States and its allies. This carefully researched study is the first to chronicle the history of Allied involvement in the defense of British, French, and Dutch possessions in the Caribbean. The first chapter examines the events and diplomacy that led in 1939 to Britain's granting the United States permission to base military facilities in Bermuda, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and to the creation of the Caribbean Sea Frontier. Later chapters detail the troubled course of British-American cooperation as U.S. military commitments--and regional dominance--increased. Also described is the role of the Netherlands, with Britain and the United States, in the defense of the oil and bauxite reserves in the Dutch Caribbean territories, and the friction between Britain and the United States over French Caribbean possessions. The final chapters analyze strategic shifts occuring as a result of the war and influencing postwar settlements negotiated for the region.

"In a life that spanned a little over half a century, Trinidadian George Padmore, the militant revolutionary, political thinker and anti-colonial champion, contributed significantly to laying the foundation of a movement which would act as a catalyst for the independence of states across Africa and the Caribbean. Coming out of a 2003 conference marking the centenary of Padmore s birth, the articles in this collection highlight and explore in unique ways, the varying facets of Padmore. His development from student activist to political figure under the watchful eye of C.L.R. James, his role as journalist and organizer and the friendships formed on the path to black liberation, all come under examination. In studying Padmore, the contributions in this volume go further than the individual by contextualizing the struggle of which he was a part and dedicated his life to. "