The Caribbean After Grenada

Features

Description

This latest of many Grenadian-inspired books provides a useful supplement to the exclusively Grenadian-oriented volumes of recent years. Six of the articles represent conflicting interpretations of Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement and the US invasion of 1983...Formats and foci for the other Caribbean pieces vary, but they establish clearly that domestic, not external forces are what shape political development in the Caribbean, making arguments regarding Grenada's (or Cuba's) threat to the region less credible...[The] editors put the events in Grenada in perspective, a task that has long been overdue.

For all levels. Choice The Caribbean After Grenada examines the major political and economic developments in the Caribbean since the events of October 1983 in Grenada. The contributors represent a range of ideological viewpoints--from neo-Marxist to conservative--and thus offer an unusually balanced and informed discussion of the lessons of Grenada and the problems of revolution, conflict, and democracy faced by contemporary Caribbean societies.

Coverage is extremely broad in scope and encompasses all geographic regions, from the islands furthest out in Atlantic to the Central American Republics, all major regime types, and all cultural/linguistic areas. An ideal supplemental text for courses on comparative politics, the Caribbean, and economic development, this volume brings a much needed historical perspective to the study of events since the Grenada crisis.

Review: This latest of many Grenadian-inspired books provides a useful supplement to the exclusively Grenadian-oriented volumes of recent years. Six of the articles represent conflicting interpretations of Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement and the US invasion of 1983. The most original are the analyses of Wendell Bell (exploring rhetoric and behavior to establish the syndrome dynamics of Reagan decision making) and Robert Pastor (on the critical days between Bishop's murder and the US invasion).

Equally valuable is the coverage of the rest of the eastern Caribbean. . . . Formats and foci for the other Caribbean pieces vary, but they establish clearly that domestic, not external forces are what shape political development in the Caribbean, making arguments regarding Grenada's (or Cuba's) threat to the region less credible. . . . . [The] editors put the events in Grenada in perspective, a task that has long been overdue.

For all levels. -Choice