Brother's Keeper
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$99.00 (06)Winner of the Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2009
Description
In 1962, amidst the Cuban Revolution, Third World decolonization, and the African American freedom movement, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became the first British West Indian colonies to gain independence. These were not only the first new nations in the western hemisphere in more than fifty years; they also won their independence without the bloodshed that marked so much of the decolonization struggle elsewhere. Jason Parker's international history of the peaceful transition in these islands analyzes the roles of the United States, Britain, the West Indies, and the transnational African diaspora in the process, from its 1930s stirrings to its Cold War culmination. Grounded in exhaustive research conducted in seven countries, Brother's Keeper offers an original rethinking of the relationship between the Cold War and Third World decolonization.Reviews
"Based on impressive archival scholarship.... A solid contribution to the historical scholarship of the twentieth-century British Caribbean and the African diaspora."--Juanita De Barros, The American Historical Review
"A phenomenally valuable transnational and multiarchival study that should be a model for those who work in this field of diplomatic history.... Highly recommended."--T. Zoumaras, CHOICE
"A nuanced, original study that offers insights into the complex interplay of geopolitics, economics, race, and local identity in the pivotal middle decades of the twentieth century."--Jason Colby, The Journal of American History
"In this richly documented study of US policy toward the British West Indies, Jason Parker adopts an ambitiously multivalent approach, tracing the intersecting influences of the Cold War and decolonization, nationalist political aspirations and transnational racial identities, dreams of regional federation and fears of communist subversion. The result is a fresh and insightful book that speaks to some of the key issues that shaped world affairs in this period."--Dane Kennedy, George Washington University
"Jason Parker's Brother's Keeper fills in a significant gap in our knowledge of the British Caribbean and its ties to the United States, an understudied yet important relationship. Utilizing multinational archival research and highlighting important factors such as race, Parker provides a good case study of decolonization during the tumultuous times of the first half of the Cold War. It is a must read for anyone interested in U.S. relations with its hemispheric neighbors."--Kyle Longley, author of In the Eagle's Shadow: The United States and Latin America
"Brother's Keeper has the archival depth and breadth to carry convincingly a very complicated story about the transfer of power in the Caribbean and how race and the Cold War influenced and shaped that transfer. Parker has an especially keen ability to never lose sight of each important element of this story--the British, the Jamaicans, the Trinidadians, the Americans, and African Americans. This is no small feat and he pulls it off seemingly effortlessly, which is a testament to his skill as a researcher, writer, and historian."-Carol Anderson, author of Eyes off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955
