Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean

This book covers the important West Indian scholar and politician.Born in Trinidad, Eric Williams (1911-81) founded the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s first modern political party in 1956, led the country to independence from the British culminating in 1962, and became the nation’s first prime minister. Before entering politics, he was a professor at Howard University and wrote several books, including the classic ““Capitalism”“ and ““Slavery”“. In the first scholarly biography of Williams, Colin Palmer provides insights into Williams’ personality that illuminate his life as a scholar and politician and his tremendous influence on the historiography and politics of the Caribbean.Palmer focuses primarily on the fourteen-year period of struggles for independence in the Anglophone Caribbean, when Williams was at the center of most of the conflicts and challenges that defined the region. Looking at the ideas of Williams, as well as those of his Caribbean and African peers, Palmer demonstrates how the development of the modern Caribbean was inextricably intertwined with the evolution of a regional anticolonial consciousness.

Author Biography

COLIN A. PALMER is Dodge Professor of History at Princeton University and author, editor, or coeditor of numerous books, including The Modern Caribbean.