history
H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series
Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power

Preparing your PDF for download...

There was a problem with your download, please contact the server administrator.

Cover of 'Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power' by Colin A. Palmer

Download Cover Image

Rights and Permissions

For Professors: Free E-Exam Copies

Download Flyer

Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power

Name: Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power
Author: Colin A. Palmer
ISBN: 9781469615011

British Guiana's Struggle for Independence

by Colin A. Palmer

Published by The University of North Carolina Press

H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series

Publication date: February 01, 2014

ISBN 9781469615011 | 376 Pages, 6.12 × 9.25 in, 3 illus., 1 map, 14 tables, appends., notes, bibl., index

376 Pages, 6.12 × 9.25 in, 3 illus., 1 map, 14 tables, appends., notes, bibl., index

Paperback $39.95

eBook:EPUB $19.99

eBook:Web PDF $19.99

Buy from …

UNC Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Bookshop

Other Retailers:

UNC Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Bookshop

Description
Authors
Praise

The turbulent political odyssey of a man — and of a nation

Colin Palmer, one of the foremost chroniclers of twentieth-century British and U.S. imperialism in the Caribbean, here tells the story of British Guiana’s struggle for independence. At the center of the story is Cheddi Jagan, who was the colony’s first premier following the institution of universal adult suffrage in 1953.

Informed by the first use of many British, U.S., and Guyanese archival sources, Palmer’s work details Jagan’s rise and fall, from his initial electoral victory in the spring of 1953 to the aftermath of the British-orchestrated coup d'état that led to the suspension of the constitution and the removal of Jagan’s independence-minded administration. Jagan’s political odyssey continued — he was reelected to the premiership in 1957 — but in 1964 he fell out of power again under pressure from Guianese, British, and U.S. officials suspicious of Marxist influences on the People’s Progressive Party, founded in 1950 by Jagan and his activist wife, Janet Rosenberg. But Jagan’s political life was not over — after decades in the opposition, he became Guyana’s president in 1992.

Subtly analyzing the actual role of Marxism in Caribbean anticolonial struggles and bringing the larger story of Caribbean colonialism into view, Palmer examines the often malevolent roles played by leaders at home and abroad and shows how violence, police corruption, political chicanery, racial politics, and poor leadership delayed Guyana’s independence until 1966, scarring the body politic in the process.

Colin A. Palmer was a leading historian of the Caribbean and the African diaspora. Freedom’s Children joins Palmer’s Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean and Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power in chronicling the history of the Caribbean in the wake of British and U.S. imperialism.

“Caribbeanists and scholars of empire will find this a bracing account of colonialism’s denouement in British Guiana. Its prose is fluid and enjoyable, its insights many and penetrating.” — Journal of American History

“Remarkable, well written, and skillfully organized.” — American Historical Review

“An outstanding piece of scholarship.” — Journal of Cold War Studies

“Without doubt this is the most original and insightful study of that tumultuous period in the history of Guyana, then called British Guiana, presently available. Colin Palmer has a long record of distinguished publications but this exceptionally thoughtful book, frequently punctuated by strikingly insightful observations, might be his best study ever. It is a masterful exercise in archival research, and it is written with excellent clarity, accessibility, and humor.” — Franklin W. Knight, The Johns Hopkins University

“This eloquent, well-written, and carefully researched book illustrates the problems with which an ideologically astute Cheddi Jagan had to govern British Guiana (Guyana) in 1953. Colin Palmer’s excellent historical skills enable the reader to understand the politics of colonialism and of devolution, as well as to comprehend the attitude of the United States, its role in colonialism, and its controversial stance on the development of the former colonies. This is a very valuable study.” — Selwyn H. H. Carrington, Howard University

Books

Authors

Journals

On The Site

Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power

British Guiana's Struggle for Independence

Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power

British Guiana's Struggle for Independence

Related Books