Cheap Alabi's World (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture) (Book) (Richard Price) Price

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Customer Reviews of Alabi's World (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture)

A thorough account of the events surrounding Saramaka life
"Alabi's World" is thorough (some note about that, later), captivating, and educational. To go to the cliche': "I have not been able to put the book down." I must qualify this by saying that my roots are from Suriname and therefore I have much interest in the material because of my familiarity with the settings. However, anyone interested in colonial history, African history as it pertains to the Western Hemisphere (slavery, slave rebellion, African customs of Maroons), will be thoroughly enlightened by the accounts charted in this book from the 4 perspectives listed above.

Richard Price has painstakingly arranged his research in such a matter that you get 4 different perspectives of life in Saramaka (Maroon colony located in the interior of Suriname): German Moravian (religious sect), Dutch Colonist, Saramaka, and his own. It is neatly arranged so that the information flows like a captivating story in which you follow these historical characters and get caught up in their lives, motivations, changes...

Because he has made one character the focal point, you get a more centralized view of what it was like in 18th century colonial Suriname and you can take away more detail from these individualized accounts.

I have discovered a great source for Maroon history in Suriname and will be seeking out all of Richard Price's titles to get the complete story about the Maroons.