A short and fascinating history of the Caribbean through the eyes of the tremendously wordy James Michener

James Michener’s novels are of a time before the Internet, when people could still absorb themselves in 1,000-page tales with hundreds of characters. His typical format was to start from the very beginning of existence and travel chronologically through until the present. (Memorably, his novel Hawaii begins with a bird pooping on the land, which gives rise to life there.) 

I’ve always been in awe of the writer - who I’m distantly related to through my mom’s dad’s sister’s husband Guy Michener - and the legendary amount of words he wrote. Without summing up the massive novel Caribbean, here are 10 really interesting things we should all know from the book, which was written in 1989. (Michener died on October 16, 1997). It should be noted that Michener mostly used historical facts to color the background of his stories of people, who he fictionalized.

• Technically, Florida and the Bahamas are not part of the Caribbean, but all the countries that border the sea in South and Central America are.
• Warriors from South America arrived on the islands in the 1300s and ended the long peace that had flourished with the Arawak people, who were skilled farmers and fishermen with an advanced social structure.
• These warriors were cannibals and often ate the men they captured and would steal the women for procreation. This goal of exterminating other types of people was happening all over the world at this time. 
• These “Caribs” were not unlike the Spartans in Greece, and they believed eating the most powerful male enemies gave them particular skills and bravery in battle, while mating with the most beautiful women enhanced their own race for the future.
• Christopher Columbus accidentally landed in the Caribbean in 1492 and began a long campaign of European colonization and exploitation of gold and many other resources. Columbus and Spain introduced slaves from Africa there.

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  James Michener

  England's Sir Francis Drake became legendary for raiding Spanish ships and settlements and essentially entering the region into the golden age of pirates.
• Barbados and other countries became major sources of sugar, which became a heavyweight economic driver, making many European colonists exceptionally wealthy through their morally and ethically corrupt explotation of slave labor.
• Later, the French would also swoop in and their colonization style contrasted in significant ways from the Spanish colonizers. Generally, while the Spanish were interested in wealth and power, the French - and also the British - wanted to build settlements and create trading networks.
• The Haitian Revolution was the first successful slave revolt and became the first Black-led country in the Western Hemisphere.
• During World War II, the islands would again become strategic spots for both the Allies and the Axis nations as locations where they all wanted to place their military warships and subs. Leading into modern times, the Caribbean countries continue to evolve their cultural identities as they all still struggle for freedom and self-determination. They are fascinating places far beyond their basic island sand-filled beauty.