Basil A. Reid is author of Archaeology and Geoinformatics: Case Studies from the Caribbean and Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
"Myths and Realities of Caribbean History is well organized and
well written. Arguments are easy to follow, and it includes a large
number of references. Figures and tables are of good quality and
appropriate. This book will be of interest to a wide variety of
people in the entire Caribbean, tourists, Americans interested in
the region, and various kinds of scholars that specialize in this
area."--L. Antonio Curet, Assistant Curator, The Field Museum
Archaeologist Basil Reid chooses 11 conventional beliefs about
Caribbean history, subjects them to analysis by means of the most
recent archaeological, historical, and ethnographic research, and
demonstrates their status as myths. Many of these myths arise from
Eurocentric assessments and the assumption that the writing of
history must be founded on written records. While exposing myths
such as cannibalism and the Carib-Arawak dichotomy, Reid
efficiently and clearly sorts out the successions, subsistence
economies, forms of social organization, and cultural affiliations
of the many Amerindian groups that populated the Caribbean for
7,000 years. In discussing Columbus, he summarizes evidence showing
that Columbus did not write the version of the diaries we have
today, and that his arrival was not the beginning of Caribbean
history. One chapter valuable beyond its Caribbean interest
summarizes the research and debates on the dispersion of syphilis
and other treponemal diseases, a process not yet fully understood.
Reid's conclusion emphasizes the role of archaeology in clarifying
Caribbean history and the nature of archaeology as part of
anthropology. Highly recommended.--CHOICE
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