This book covers some fascinating subject matter. It is something of a maritime history of the Bahamas, a very important place historically almost since Columbus “discovered” America in 1492.
Unfortunately, however, like the last book reviewed here, it reads like a standardised doctoral thesis. That in fact is exactly what it is.
It is such a pity that it has not been edited and somewhat re-written so as to appeal to the general, non-academic, reader. It could be very easily remade into something much more interesting.
That said, the author knows her subject very well and is enthusiastic about it. She is Bahamian-born and -bred and part of a very long-established local family. That becomes very obvious after just a few pages and somewhat makes up for the book’s doctoral thesis format.
As the author points out, the location of the Bahamas, its geology and geography have ensured its fascinating maritime history. Six hundred years of inter-action among Spanish, French, British and American traders, privateers, blockade runners, fishermen, wreckers and many more have ensured the economic development of an archipelago with few natural assets. Throw in racial and religious variety and the place becomes all the more interesting.
There is much to learn and enjoy from Bahamian maritime history. This book gives the reader a taste, but a more reader-friendly presentation would have improved it considerably.
Author: Lisa Lawlor Feller
Available from the University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, USA