Caribbean & West Indies

An epic, sweeping history of Cuba and its complex ties to the United States—from before the arrival of Columbus to the present day—written by one of the world’s leading historians of Cuba....

Bestselling author Max Hastings offers a welcome re-evaluation of one of the most gripping and tense international events in modern history—the Cuban Missile Crisis—providing a people-focused narrative that explores the attitudes and conduct....

Henry Morgan challenged the greatest empire on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades and brought it to its knees. This is the real story of the pirates of the Caribbean....

This audiobook narrated by Tony Chiroldes traces the multifaceted history of Puerto Rico from pre-Columbian times to today.

Finding and identifying a pirate ship is the hardest thing to do under the sea. But two men—John Chatterton and John Mattera—are willing to risk everything to find the Golden Fleece, the ship of the infamous pirate Joseph Bannister....

As a spy prepared to give away America’s biggest secrets after the 9/11 attacks, an FBI agent raced to catch her....

A new interpretation of the life of the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture....

First published in 1993, The Ultimate Cigar Book has become a classic in its field, and is generally credited with having helped launch the current cigar-smoking craze. Now we present an audio edition of the beloved fourth edition....

Secret operations, corruption, crime, and a city teeming with spies: Covert City examines why Miami was as crucial to winning the Cold War as Washington DC or Moscow....

The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 in the French colony of Saint Domingue, when a group of slaves rebelled in order to secure their freedom and the end of slavery....

A crucial, clear-eyed accounting of Puerto Rico's 122 years as a colony of the US....

In Aid State, Jake Johnston, researcher and writer at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, reveals how US and European capitalist goals re-enslaved Haiti under the guise of helping it....

The Spanish Conquest: What really happened? If you like to use your drive time for education by audiobook, consider this audiobook for widening and deepening your view of an event you studied briefly in school - the Spanish conquest of the Americas....

In October 1962, when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy....

Salsa is one of the most popular types of music listened to and danced to in the United States....

In Empire’s Crossroads, British American historian Carrie Gibson traces the story of the coveted area from the northern rim of South America up to Cuba....

Placing the West's failure to acknowledge the most successful slave revolt in history alongside denials of the Holocaust and the debate over the Alamo, Michel-Rolph Trouillot offers a stunning meditation on how power operates in the making and recording of history....

From a New York Times best-selling author, a gripping account of the slave rebellion that led to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire....

Tom Gjelten fuses the story of the Bacardi family and their famous rum business with Cuba's tumultuous experience over the last 150 years....

The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and died out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean....

This was the tipping point for the end of the Spanish Empire and the rise of the US as a formidable player on the world stage. Not all Americans were happy with the change, with famous Americans like Mark Twain speaking out about the US occupation of the lands that it was meant to save....

Historian and journalist Tony Perrottet chronicles the events of the Cuban Revolution and the figures at the center of the guerrilla uprising: Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and the scrappy band of rebel men and women who followed them....

By the mid 1980s, the criminal underworld in the United States had become an ethnic polyglot; one of the most powerful illicit organizations was none other than the Cuban mob....

The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today....

In For Whom the Dogs Spy, Raymond Joseph provides a compelling, modern-day look at Haiti like no other....

Drawing on archeological and ethno-historical evidence, Irving Rouse sketches a picture of the Tainos-the first people Columbus encountered when he arrived in the Americas-as they existed during the time of Columbus, contrasting their customs with those of their neighbors. He then moves backward in time to the ancestors of the Tainos-two successive groups who settled the West Indies and who are known to archeologists as the Saladoid peoples and the Ostionoid peoples.

Embracing Rastafarianism: A Guide To The Spirituality, Roots, Revelations, and Global Influence Of Rastafari From Jamaica To The World Discover the profound world of Rastafari in "Embracing Rastafarianism," a comprehensive and immersive exploration of a movement that has captivated hearts and minds around the globe. From its roots in colonial Jamaica to its spread across continents, this book delves deep into the spiritual, cultural, and social dimensions of a movement defined by resistance, unity, and the quest for spiritual liberation. Why You Should Buy This Book: ✅ Deep Understanding:...

The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the most dramatic and dangerous period of the Cold War. What's less well known is that the city of Miami, mere miles away, was a pivotal, though less well known, part of Cold War history. With its population of Communist exiles from Cuba, its strategic value for military operations, and its lax business laws, Miami was an ideal environment for espionage. Covert City tells the history of how the entire city of Miami was constructed in the image of the US-Cuba rivalry.

Spurred by a deep religious conviction, a lust for gold and the riches of the Orient, the Genoise explorer Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find a trade route to China. In his first voyage starting in 1492 he found little gold and did not reach China. What he did find was lush islands filled with friendly natives and vast new lands to explore and conquer. The next three voyages would transform this world-class navigator and explorer into a failure as a colonial governor and administrator. The Spanish colonists that were planted into the New World proved to be brutal masters of ...

This audiobook narrated by Tony Chiroldes traces the multifaceted history of Puerto Rico from pre-Columbian times to today.

In a music world that was rougher than rough, where men took monikers of royalty and machismo like Duke and King and Lord; where boastful ringleaders fired guns into the air after descending a throne carried by their legions of followers, bandoliers crisscrossing their chests, ermine on their shoulders; where violent gangs stormed dances to “mash up,” breaking sound system equipment and smashing bottles of beer on brick walls, how was a little girl with a sweet song in her soul to have a chance? Some Jamaican women found a way. They endured harassment and received little or no pay to ...

The reader of this book will get an intimate glimpse into the lives of Brindley and Patricia Benn and their family, who loom large in the history of the small South American nation of Guyana. Guyana is about to assume a much larger role on the world stage, because of its vast, newly discovered oil resources. With this book, we hope that Guyanese both young and old will gain a better understanding of their nation's long and arduous struggle for the right to develop into a modern and sovereign nation-state. The reader will learn how neo-colonialism operated during the period following World ...

Displaced from his oppressive yard, Johnny finds no work for a trombonist in the recording studios of Kingston. A life of crime as a rude boy is an easy way out, but will Johnny join his friends, or will he confront his past to realize his true potential? Set in Kingston, Jamaica, 1966, Johnny Too Bad is an historical fiction set in a record-heat summer when ska transitioned to rocksteady and politics defined the country’s identity. Go inside the musicians’ studios, the Rasta camps, the streets and the tenement yards to witness first-hand life during a time of both creation and ...

When Jamaica became independent on August 6, 1962, ska music was playing in yards, dancehalls, and in recording studios as this new nation celebrated. It was a spirited music, full of promise, optimism, and energy and it was the perfect sound to showcase to the world. Now that Jamaica was independent, what better way to demonstrate the culture, beauty, and art of Jamaica than through ska, both as a music and as a dance. The Jamaican government, tourist and business industry, and newly developing music industry made it their mission to bring Jamaican music to the world, through events they ...

Because of the way pirates are portrayed in the movies or on tv, we often think of them as colorful characters. In reality pirates were criminals, many of them were vicious and violent and caused fear over the oceans of the world, at the mention of their name. The definition of piracy is an act of violence and robbery at sea. The image of an eye patch wearing, rum drinking guy with a hook hand or a peg leg is a real image of many pirates. Pirates were initially found in the straits of the Mediterranean and the English channel. Their victims were easy to find because they were traveling ...