World War II and the Caribbean focuses on one of the most exciting periods in the history of the region as the Caribbean territories faced incredible upheaval and opportunity during the war years. Local operations, cultural mores and the region’s international image were forever changed by its pivotal role in the war effort.

The chapters in this volume respond to the need for information and analysis on the wide-ranging impact of the war on territories in the region (English, French, Spanish and Dutch). The contributors cover topics such as the economic consequences of wartime activity (the food crisis and the decline of the agricultural sector), while highlighting the opportunities that arose for industry and enterprise in the Caribbean; the accommodations made by the European imperial nations and their attempts to tighten control over their Caribbean territories during the war; the intervention of the Americans in the region; the social impact of the war (the migration of German-speaking refugees and other groups) and the effects on Caribbean societies of this contact; and the impact of the war on public health and the broad spectrum experiences of women (as volunteers, nurses and sex-workers).

This well-researched volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of military and conflict history, twentieth-century Caribbean history, and the general reader.

Contributors: Dalea Bean, Bridget Brereton, Geoff Burrows, Esther Captain, Christian Cwik, Robert Devaux, Karen E. Eccles, Guy Ellis, Lovell Francis, Suzanne Francis-Brown, Dannelle Gutarra, Jolien Harmsen, Eric T. Jennings, Guno Jones, Gelien Matthews, Debbie McCollin, Verena Muth, Rita Pemberton, Ronald Williams

Karen E. Eccles is Faculty Liaison Librarian for the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Alma Jordan Library, the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

Debbie McCollin is Lecturer, Department of History, the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Her publications include the edited volume In the Fires of Hope: Essays on the Modern History of Trinidad and Tobago, 1962–2012.