In this wide-ranging world of Jamaican history, Father Osborne was able to draw upon a variety of Jesuit archives in addition to the ones freely consulted by lay historians, and this gives parts of his book new authority and originality. In the absence of any recent substantial history of Jamaica as a whole, this book offers the best available account of several historical themes, including the culture and religious beliefs of the Arawaks, the general condition of the island under the Spaniards, and some aspects of the British conquest...