During the past twelve months at least two books have been published with contents devoted to the British West Indies. Neither book has been published specifically for the stamp collector; but both contain a wealth of background material which cannot help but prove of interest to the postal historian and the collector who wishes for knowledge of the land and the peoples behind his stamps. JAMAICA by Peter Abrahams, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. Price 25s.
This book is the fifth in the Corona Library serves - a series of illustrated voluires dealing with the United Kingdom's dependent territories, and prepared for the Colonial Office by the Central Office of Information (previous titles are Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, Nyasaland and British Guiana). The Central Office of Information shewed considerable enterprise in asking Peter Abrahams to write this "island mosaic". He is a distinguished coloured writer, who was born m the slums of Johannesburg, served in the merchant navy during the last war and later settled in Great Britain. He flew to Jamaica to obtain his material, and so fell in love with the island that he has now returned to live there with his family. This is a 'happy' book - happy in the sense that the author felt so obviously at home in the multi-racial life of Jamaica well away from any colour bar. He vividly describes the rich hues of the scenery, and the equally rich local dialects. His book encompasses both past and present, from the Arawak Indians - a gentle Stone Age people, exterminated by the Spaniards in less than 150 years - the buccaneers, the years of slavery, the rise and fall of King Sugar, to the present day nationalism and political maturity. Some very good photographs are included in this book, whilst the line drawings by Rosemary Grimble, daughter of "Grimble of the Islands", are a delight. Thoroughly recommended for the postal historian.
[Owing to lack of space the review of the second book is held over until the next issue. - Ed.]
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