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This remarkable description of Jamaica in the late 1680s was written by a contemporary English observer, John Taylor, who spent some months on the island. The original manuscript is held by the National Library of Jamaica, and has rarely been used by scholars. It contains information about Jamaica under the Spaniards, about the English invasion of 1655 and about the formation of the subsequent society, including the treatment of slaves. There are sections on the island's settlement and architecture, including a particularly full description of Port Royal. John Taylor sets out fifty current laws, many of them unknown to other such collections. He also carefully explains the nature of Jamaica's birds, beasts and plants. Taylor offers an image of the island before the general spread of sugar cultivation, citing some creatures now extinct in Jamaica; he also makes many suggestions about the medical use of natural products. His world is still one in which certain places are enchanted, though he also describes an island whose main features will be entirely familiar to modern Jamaicans. Buisseret's meticulous work on this manuscript has taken over twenty years and he provides an annotated version of the manuscript, which was originally more than 850 pages and was in three volumes. This edition covers the second half of volume 1 and the whole of volume 2, providing a rich tapestry of Taylor's observations and notes on Jamaica. Most of the remaining manuscript contains autobiographical material and nautical logs. Buisseret's edition provides an annotation and a glossary. The text will be useful to generations of scholars and students alike or to anyone with an interest in Jamaica and its colourful history. Co-published with the National Library of Jamaica and the Mill Press.

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Plantation Jamaica analyses the important but neglected role of the attorneys who managed estates, chiefly for absentee proprietors, and assesses their efficiency and impact on Jamaica during slavery and freedom. Meticulous research based on a variety of sources, including the attorneys' letters, plantation papers and slave registration records, provides rich quantitative and literary data describing the attorneys' role, status, range of activities and demographic characteristics. Higman charts both the extent of absentee ownership and the complex structure of the managerial hierarchy that stretched across the Atlantic. Detailed case studies compare the attorney Simon Taylor's management of Golden Grove Estate in the decade before the American Revolution and Isaac Jackson's control of Montpelier in the years immediately following the abolition of slavery. These examples provide a wealth of information about plantation life and labour, technology, trade, investments and profits. Higman also makes a unique contribution by investigating and describing several topics previously neglected, including the postal service, the history of accounting and the role of attorneys in the British Isles. The writing style is clear, persuasive and elegant, which makes the work accessible to Atlantic and Caribbean historians and to general readers as well. This book is critical in the ongoing historiographical debate about the impact of absenteeism in Jamaica, Great Britain's largest sugar-exporting colony. The sophisticated economic and social analysis reveals how managers, overseers and owners constructed an efficient value system, which permitted ethical behaviour among themselves yet perpetuated the brutal exploitation of plantation workers, enslaved and free.

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Don't Burn our Bridges: The Case for Caribbean Carriers"" argues that a tourism-dependent region comprised largely of a group of islands must, in its own best interest, retain ownership of key aspects of its air access in spite of the costs and challenges involved in so doing. Air transportation is the glue that cements the tourism market to the destination, but it is also the aerial bridge connecting the territories and peoples of a single market and economy. Often regional airlines are forced to offer a mixture of commercial and social routes, which makes profitability difficult. The social service they provide is critical, however, and public sector shareholders should not measure their return on investment simply in terms of the bottom line. Holder rejects a widely held view that Caribbean governments, should not support their own carriers financially. Instead, he argues that because of their overall contribution to development generally, the air transportation industry should be counted among those companies in the region which are too big (and important) to be allowed to fail. ""Don't Burn Our Bridges"" documents the history of Caribbean airlines and attempts to demystify the complexities of such concepts as deregulation, yield management, hedging of oil prices, fare setting, fuel surcharges and a la carte pricing, while making the point that running successful airlines has defeated some of the world's most brilliant business minds. Holder also explores the impact of the global economic meltdown of 2008-2009 on air transportation and Caribbean tourism, and proposes a way forward for air transportation in the Caribbean community.

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Many viable businesses in Jamaica are in need of turnaround from losses and financial distress. This book provides solutions from a new lens  a simple, yet highly effective set of profit pathways developed from a sharp review of international literature and exploration of the business models of Jamaican firms. In Chapter 1, the book explains why business renewal is an urgent need in Jamaica and presents an effective roadmap for firm recovery from organizational decline. Chapters 2 to 6 provide more detailed description of the major sections of the roadmap with relevant real case examples. Chapter 7 recaps the main points and underscores critical implications of the roadmap for managerial decisions and actions. The language is clear and simple with appealing tables and figures where necessary. The book extends existing literature on strategy by integrating findings from prior studies and adding the context of business renewal in a developing Caribbean country. Business managers, consultants, accountants, lawyers, policymakers and students will find the book to be useful reading and reference material.

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