Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. Beginnings: 1. The Mediterranean origins; 2. Sugar planting: from Cyprus to the Atlantic islands; 3. Africa and the slave trade; 4. Capitalism, feudalism, and sugar planting in Brazil; 5. Bureaucrats and freelances in Spanish America; Part II. Seventeenth-Century Transition: 6. The sugar revolution and the settlement of the Caribbean; 7. Anarchy and imperial control; 8. Slave societies on the periphery; Part III. Apogee and Revolution: 9. The slave trade and the West African economy in the eighteenth century; 10. Atlantic commerce in the eighteenth century; 11. The democratic revolution in the Atlantic basin; 12. Revolution in the French Antilles; Part IV. Aftermath: 13. Readjustments in the nineteenth century; 14. The end of slavery in the Americas; Retrospect.

Promotional Information

A new edition of Philip Curtin's classic work on the history of the plantations.

Reviews

'This study of the transfer of slave plantations from the eastern Mediterranean to the tropical New World demonstrates [Curtin's] insight into transregional patterns. The detail in his wide-ranging account is impressive, and it provides the reader with an informative overview.' David A. Chappell, Journal of World History 'Anyone interested in New World foundations should begin with this collection; even experts will find thought-provoking moments here.' Choice