This book could have been really interesting. It's about a topic that isn't looked into much, both of the Irish diaspora and the life of the Irish in the Caribbean, as most Irish history focuses on the Irish in Ireland and most just state the numbers of people that left Ireland during the troubles that faced the country.

But the writing is just so dry. A lot of it just feels like a list of facts, listed one after another, which isn't helped by the author jumping between topics and raising topics that have been mentioned before.

This non-fiction book looks at the early Irish settlers in the Caribbean Islands.

The book considers the effects the many of the settlers and invaders had on the Irish and their way of life, from the missionaries of Rome, Vikings, Scots, Normans and ultimately the English and the battles led by the military leader, Oliver Cromwell. War, famine and religious disharmony made Ireland not a pleasant place to be. Plenty of pull and push factors discussed: definitely a case of Irish winners and losers.

This is a good study, full of dates, facts and figures indicating the amount of research Garcia has undertaken. Some of the research is a bit repetitive and the organisation of the material lacks flow, but it is easy to read. However, this remains a fairly unknown piece of history and the author suggests that this is because the Irish are a diverse and unclassifiable and not much documentation survives. Perhaps this is all of it. Fascinating stuff.

The Cromwellian conquest represents a turning point in the history of Catholic Ireland. It marked the beginning of what is commonly known as the “Irish Di-aspora”. Cromwell’s project to convert Ireland into a protestant country caused voluntary and forced migrations of the vast majority of Irish people. Their main destination was the Caribbean. At first, they came there as indentured servants who were forced to work in atrocious conditions for their British masters. The situation changed when planters started to prefer African slaves that were more resistant to the climate of the tropics. Indentured servants and African slaves worked side by side, but Irish were unwilling to accept that condition perpetually and they frequently rebelled against British authority.
However, as Miki Garcia’s book demonstrates, many Irish people profited from this situation and accumulated a lot of wealth thanks to the slave trade. Therefore, with a well-documented analysis, Miki Garcia claims that Irish people suffered the consequences of the slave trade, but at the same time they contributed significantly to it; they were the backbone of the British Empire and also their Achilles’ heel since they repeatedly backed Catholic France and Spain to hinder the British project to control the whole world.

Miki Garcia researches professionally and that is evident in the detail provided in this book. The use of "indentured" Irish servants in the settlement of the Caribbean has come up often in the last few months. Though their treatment as documented and described by Ms Garcia, was not stellar, they were eventually "free" and not slaves. I found the book was written rather conversationally. I had no trouble following the narrative. I think it would make an excellent reference piece and could even be used as a book discussion selection. I learned a lot and Ms Garcia has spurred me to read further.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Take what you think you know about the Irish, and throw it out the window. This well-done book will challenge all your preconceptions and set you straight in the meantime.

Miki Garcia did a great job and laid out this fabulous book with an easy to follow, and well-documented facts. The slave trade changed quite a bit of the Caribbean layout, and as the slave trade grew, the role of the Irish was not as involved. However, they left their mark regardless. The enduring legacy remains, and they are not to be underestimated or discounted. This is a must-read!

An interesting but rather dry study of how the Irish populated parts of the Caribbean via indenture, punishment and of course slavery. There is the bones of a great book here but it is weighed down with figures that, whilst important, often interrupted the flow so made it hard to stay engaged.

*Many thanks to Miki Garcia, John Hunt Publishing and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
I am interested in history but this book surprised me as it allowed me to discover a piece of history I have never read about before.
Learning about the Irish making their way across the Atlantic and actually becoming slaves was a shocking experience from me. The author did a grand reserch into the stories of those poor souls.

The historical value of this story is awesome. To find out so many Irish lived and profited in the Caribbean is fascinating. The deeper you go into the story of the amazing people the more you learn what they went through. A book everyone should read.

To me, at least, this story was completely unknown... of course history has a habit of doing that, burying the sagas that deserve the light of day, and that's great because it means authors like Garcia can then retrieve them, and books like this are the result. A fascinating tale of survival, adaptation, hardship and hard work, it's written in a way that takes you into the heart of events, and if you have any kind of Irish history collection, this is a vital addition.

I was fascinated by The Caribbean Irish: How the Slave Myth Was Made. I thought it was a good and quick read. I am giving it three and a half stars.

A fascinating part of Irish history I was totally unaware of. A must read for any lover of Irish or Caribbean history.

While I have heard stories of the Irish in Monserrat, I was largely ignorant of the history of Irish immigration to the Caribbean and when I came across the book, ‘The Caribbean Irish: How the Slave Myth Was Made’ by Miki Garcia, I was excited by the opportunity to finally learn about the truth of the indentured Irish and their arrival on the Caribbean islands from 1641 onwards.
The work is detailed and covers topics such as religions, ports, trades, the different islands, groups within Caribbean society such as ‘redlegs’ etc. And provides an insight into the lives of Irish who have been transported to Caribbean areas like Jamaica, Barbados, St Martin. I found this book to be both a detailed and well-researched exploration of this aspect of Irish history.
I received a free copy of this book from Chronos via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An informative read, shedding a light on a somewhat murky part of Irish & English history. I wasn't aware that England had been shipping out "unwanted elements" to faraway colonies before they did so in the late 18th century to Australia, to say nothing of the way they went about it, nor even Cromwell’s involvement. It was fascinating, if not always easy reading, especially when the author went into specifics about the daily life, restrictions and punishments awaiting the Irish "servants" and later on the African slaves which, certain similarities aside, were even more horrible. I liked the quotes used throughout the narrative which at times was rather dry, but I’d have preferred it if the author had given more insights into his sources.

An engrossing look at a little known fact of history. Neither the scenery of the Caribbean nor the topic of slavery brings to mind the Irish population that migrated and settles there. Migrating as indentured servants did not give these brave souls the futures they expected, most never made it to freedom again. An excellent look at another shameful time in world history.

I didnt know how to feel about this book. My wife and I have traveled extensively in the Caribbean so I love reading histories about it. I felt that the author was a bit long-winded in descriptions of how the Irish came to be exported to the new world. The numbers seemed to almost go county by county and the histories seemed to repeat. I felt there was a good narrative in there but it became too bogged down in statistics and asides to make it not enjoyable enough to read.

Very well written and researched piece about Irish history from an angle that I have never considered before. This book follows the impact of Cromwell's ascendancy on Ireland and the practices of forced emigration and indentured servitude. The title is a bit misleading in that there is a great deal more covered than just life in the Caribbean. I learned so much I hadn't known about this important piece of history for both the Irish and the new world.

This is a detailed and well-researched exploration of the emigration, often forced, of countless Irish citizens to the Caribbean, where their legacy lives on right to today. Some went voluntarily but many of them they were forced into being indentured servants and often suffered horrendous hardship. This aspect of Irish history is probably not as well-known as it should be and thus this new account is to be welcomed indeed. I learnt a lot from it. However, although it is accessibly written I didn’t find it particularly well-written, with a rather jumbled approach and much repetition. There’s sometimes an awkwardness to the writing and some jarring grammatical infelicities. Thus I didn’t find it as engaging as it could have been, and some careful editing wouldn’t have come amiss. Worth reading, however, for an insight into Ireland's past as well as that of the Caribbean.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When the majority of people think of slaves, they usually think of the African population being taken from their homeland to be sold on, then forced to work on plantations. People are often surprised when I tell them this had happened to Irish people as well, but I was never able to explain further.

I have studied empires, but I never got the opportunity to go in-depth into how it affected people's lives, the individuals who weren't in charge.

I found this book very interesting. The writer gives you an insight into what went on. I thought it was a brilliant read and well written. I think if you have an interest in Irish history, I would strongly recommend this book.

It is a good start do those who are interested in migration Irish history or wanting to know more about indentured (that type of history) persons. A look at something that one might not think about.

This is an interesting and fascinating read. I had not heard about Irish people going to the Caribbean. I was totally intrigued by all the information in the book. I will definitely be reading this book again and recommending it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.