This text provides an account and intpretation of the historical development of the Caribbean from around 1930 to the end of the 20th century. Its wide-ranging study of the economic, political, religious, social and cultural history of this period brings the series to the authorial present. Included in its compass are the "turbulent times", including the Cuban Revolution of 1933 and the labour protests in the British Caribbean of 1934-9; the strategic position occupied by the region during World War II; the development of proletarian movements and trade unions and their links with political parties; decolonization; political evolution in the French and Dutch Caribbean, and the "turn to the left" made in the 1970s by a number of the Anglphone Caribbean countries, notably Greneda; the Cuban Revolution and its aftermath to the 1990s; ethnicity and race conciousness and their effects in uniting or dividing communities and nations; international relations and regional co-operation; changes in social and demographic structures (including the role and status of women), education, migration and urbanization; and the beliefs and cultural experiences which underpin Caribbean identity.
The final chapter provides an overall survey of changes in the quality of life in the Caribbean during the 20th century.