This is a study of the West Indies in the mid-nineteenth century. William A. Green draws together the experiences of more than a dozen different sugar colonies and forms them into a coherent historical account. The first part of the book examines the West Indies on the eve of emancipation in 1830; the second explores the politics and society of the islands during the period 1830-1865, a key passage in West Indian history. Professor Green presents a clear general picture of the sugar colonies, and places British governmental policy towards the region in the context of Victorian attitudes towards colonial questions. His lucid and comprehensive account is an important contribution to Caribbean history.