Unlike the earthquakes and hurricanes that have influenced Caribbean history; the region's fires have almost always been caused by humans. Geographer Bonham C. Richardson explores the effects of fire in the social and ecological history of the British Lesser Antilles; from the British Virgin Islands south to Trinidad. Focusing on the late nineteenth century; leading to the 1905 withdrawal of British military forces from the region; Richardson shows how fire-lit social upheavals served as forerunners of political independence movements. Drawing on Caribbean and London archives as well as years of fieldwork; Richardson examines how villagers used; modified; and contemplated fire in part to vent their frustrations with a savage economic depression and social and political inequities imposed from afar. He examines fire in all its forms; from protest torches to sugarcane fires that threatened the islands' economic staple. Richardson illuminates a neglected period in Caribbean history by showing how local uses of fire have been catalysts and even causes of important changes in the region.
#788074 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 1981-01-01Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 #File Name: 0807814547220 pages
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