Caribbean

M/ 'Windward Islands' was one of the two 'banana boats' that were regular visitors to the port with cargoes from St. Lucia and Dominica. Preston Digital Archives. Image kindly provided by Mrs. J. Williams, Fulwood, Preston. Courtesy of Paul Swarbrick & Gillian Lawson, Preston Historical Society.

Preston’s Banana Boat Stowaways

In 1960, the arrival of a ship carrying Caribbean stowaways in Preston caused a political and diplomatic furore.

Jamaican men, many of them former RAF servicemen, disembark Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks, 22 June 1948.

What Happens Back Home

The Windrush generation witnessed the Caribbean colonies from which they had emigrated achieve independence. Despite being an ocean away, they were not passive observers.

Rastafari await the arrival of Haile Selassie I at Palisadoes Airport, Kingston, Jamaica, 21 April 1966.

Born in Babylon

The spread of Rastafari carried pan-African ideals from rural Jamaica to the world. From its origins in 1930s Kingston, it has espoused a striking message: Africa yes, England no.

Ben Jones

Barbados and the End of Monarchy

Barbados’ decision to remove Queen Elizabeth II as head of state was inevitable. Why did it take so long?

Norman B. Leventhal Map Center

Is Caribbean History the Key to Understanding the Modern World?

Four distinguished scholars consider a historical question of enormous contemporary resonance.

First Among Equals

Few figures from the Age of Revolutions can match the achievements of Toussaint Louverture.

Colonial Mentalities

A culture war on race and empire divided the intellectual classes of Victorian Britain.

The Wrongful Death of Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture’s lonely death in a French prison cell was not an unfortunate tragedy but a cruel story of betrayal.

The Long Fight for Liberty

Maroon freedom fighters on two Caribbean islands helped hasten the abolition of slavery.

The People Who Discovered Christopher Columbus

What did the indigenous people of the Americas think of Columbus?