Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean

“A highly successful addition to our knowledge of a major figure.” — Hispanic American Historical Review

“An informative and useful account that greatly enhances our understanding of a man of tremendous political and intellectual acuity.” — American Historical Review

“A fascinating study of one of the most brilliant and controversial figures of the twentieth century Caribbean. . . . A magnificent testimony to the sheer force of that singular personality, and the extent of his impact on politics in the modern Caribbean. Williams' continued capacity to impose himself on history is not in doubt.” — Journal of Latin American Studies

“[Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean] will be regarded as a foundation stone for future work on the Caribbean political and intellectual giant." — The Americas

“Palmer’s detailed account of Williams’ intellectual contribution to the wider Caribbean has gone beyond what other scholars have written. His book is the first detailed account of Williams’s political practice as it relates not only to Trinidad and Tobago but [also] to the wider Caribbean. While many issues in the text might shock some readers and cause others to reexamine some of Williams’s positions on a number of issues, Palmer has done superb work in exploring all the inherent contradictions of Williams’s politics.” — International Labor and Working-Class History

“The book is superbly written and referenced and so is a joy for a scholar to consult. . . . Palmer is to be thanked for his efforts in aiding our understanding of Trinidad and Tobago’s politics and of Dr. Williams and [Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean] is to be recommended to all scholars of the Caribbean as an exceptionally well informed and richly entertaining read.” — Island Studies Journal

“This book serves as a political biography of Trinidad and Tobago’s best-known politician, educator, and historian, and as a diplomatic case study.” — CHOICE

“[A] beautifully written work. . . . Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean, a rigorously argued work, will gain a cherished place in scholarship on Williams.” — Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Wellesley College, trinicenter.com

“Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean is a delightfully well-written study of Williams’s efforts to unify the Caribbean while maintaining the separate identities of disparate peoples and leaders in the British West Indies. This book is well researched and captures adequately Williams’s approaches to most of the issues facing Trinidad and Tobago and the region in its early phase of political transition. Palmer’s methodology uniquely gives credibility to many of the issues with which he deals.” — Selwyn H. H. Carrington, Howard University

“One of the most accessible and balanced treatments of the first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1956-81) to date. . . . Palmer is an elegant and engaging writer. His prose, spliced occasionally with the dark humour of political repartee, takes one effortlessly into the ebbs and flows of selected Caribbean political streams from 1956 to 1970.” — Canadian Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Studies