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More than two and a half centuries after it was first outlawed in Jamaica in 1760, obeah remains illegal in most territories of the former British West Indies. Yet, opinions on the meaning and essential nature of this controversial Afro-Caribbean spiritual phenomenon vary widely. While many contemporary West Indians hold negative views of obeah, viewing it as evil witchcraft or sorcery, others point to its widespread use in healing, protection from harm and solving a wide range of everyday problems  positive views that were also commonly held by enslaved West Indians in earlier generations.

Despite the scholarly attention obeah has received, relatively little has been written about the many laws enacted against it in different territories at different periods. Offering a perspective on obeah that challenges conventional conceptions of this widely misunderstood aspect of West Indian society and culture, the core of this book is a detailed examination of anti-obeah laws, and their socio-political implications, in seventeen jurisdictions of the English-speaking Caribbean from the period of slavery to the present.

Aside from chronologically tracing in each territory the development of these laws and their major provisions, the book also examines how anti-obeah legislation has helped to create and perpetuate cultural distortions that resound into the present. Anti-obeah legislation, particularly after the end of slavery in the nineteenth century, played a central role in creating public misunderstandings of the meaning and role of obeah among the West Indian masses, and led to the stigmatization and devaluation among future generations of African-derived spiritual beliefs and practices.

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In Tastes Like Home Guyanese food enthusiast and blogger Cynthia Nelson, who lives in Barbados, brings readers over 100 recipes from all over the Caribbean; all of which she has tried and tested herself and served to family and friends. But more than just recipes, Tastes Like Home is a conversation about food and how it connects and forms part of Caribbean identity. The book is divided into two sections, a memoir section and a recipe section. In the memoir section Cynthia shares personal memories which help us to understand Caribbean food and lifestyle. Some of the memories focus on food, some on events or special festivals, others are just recollections about life in the Caribbean. In the recipe section readers are treated to step by step guides on how to make roti, the perfect baked ham, Dhal puri, Christmas Cake and Coconut drops - to name a few. Whether you are at home or abroad, near or far, Tastes Like Home is your invitation to revel in the tastes of the Caribbean.

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This book documents the contributions that Ruth Nita Barrow, Gertrude Hildegarde Swaby and Julie Symes made in advancing the status of professional nursing education in Jamaica between 1946 and 1986. Their contributions to professional nursing occurred while Jamaica was a British colony, and the economic, political and social forces of the era and their effects are discussed. Because their contributions extended to other English-speaking Caribbean territories, this study also focuses on the impact that these women had on regional nursing education development and the factors that influenced their involvement. The changes that emerged from the contributions of these women with respect to influence, commitment, credibility, visibility, networking, and mentoring in the profession of nursing are profound.

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Up until very recently it was believed that in 1491, the year before Columbus landed, the Americas, one-third of the earth's surface, were a near-pristine wilderness inhabited by small, roaming bands of indigenous peoples. Then, the story went, they encountered European society, their world was turned upside down and they entered history. But recently unexpected discoveries have dramatically changed our understanding of Indian Life. Many scholars now argue that the Indians were much more numerous than previously believed, that they were in the Americas for far longer, and that they had far more ecological impact on the land. This knowledge has enormous implications for today's environmental disputes, yet little has filtered into textbooks, and even less into public awareness. Charles Mann brings together all of the latest research, and the results of his own travels throughout North and South America, to provide a new, fascinating and iconoclastic account of the Americas before Columbus.

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Charles Mann is the co-author of four previous books, including The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in 20th Century Physics and Noah's Choice: The Future of Endangered Species. He is the correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and Science magazines, and editorial co-ordinator for the internationally best-selling Material World books. He lives in Massachusetts.

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This work discusses the effectiveness of the sets of policies employed by the government over a fifty-year period spanning 1958 to 2008 in the effort to foster the growth and development of the economy. It concludes that Trinidad and Tobago has underperformed in respect of its growth and development. Compared with other countries more or less similarly placed around 1960, Trinidad and Tobago has not achieved in key areas of health-care delivery, education access, and income and wealth, notwithstanding its substantial resources of oil and gas.

Historically, Trinidad and Tobago's economy cycles from boom to bust depending on what happens to the price of oil. The carefree, undisciplined lifestyle of most of the population is occasionally perturbed by a paroxysm of social unrest. Downturns are accompanied by ritual incantations by government officials of the need for ""diversification"" to reduce the country's dependence on oil and the energy-based industries, the formation of new committees, task forces and boards, and considerable hand-wringing and angst about the ""sustainability"" of government fiscal operations. Seemingly bold new initiatives and projects are announced, and all the while people wait and secretly hope for a quick turnaround in the price of oil, ammonia, methanol and natural gas so that rents will again begin to accrue, government spending programmes can restart and the fete can resume. Trinidad and Tobago will not achieve its potential for development unless and until this cycle is broken.

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Terrence W. Farrell is a Fellow of the Institute of Banking and Finance of Trinidad and Tobago he has published several scholarly articles and a book on central banking in Trinidad and Tobago.

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Students and teachers of education in the Caribbean have long relied on ethnographic research from North America to enrich their understanding of life in schools and classrooms. Based on actual experiences from the perspectives of both students and teachers, this collection of ethnographic research articles provides the first up-close view of Jamaican schools and classrooms. Hyacinth Evans and her research team used careful, well-executed interviews and participant observation methods. The result is an insightful view of the ways society's tensions are played out in educational settings, the ways personalities are shaped and identities formed in face-to-face interactions, and the ways circumstances and experiences in the Jamaican setting affect teaching and learning. The articles examine - Student-teacher interaction - Teacher authority - how it is maintained, nurtured, or eroded - The social construction of student interest and attention versus disruptiveness and apathy - Consequences of streaming children in perceived ability groups - Standard Jamaican English (SJE) methods and their effectiveness in teaching Creole-speaking students - Teaching and learning in schools where materials and resources are limited - Career decisions for teachers This book is an essential addition to the body of education texts used throughout the Caribbean, geared for undergraduate and postgraduate students, classroom teachers, and anyone interested in schools and education.