Hurricanes and Society in the British Greater Caribbean, 1624–1783

"A rich and engaging study. Readers of Hurricanes and Society in the British Greater Caribbean will add hurricanes to the list of characteristics that define the early modern Caribbean: sugar, slavery, disease, war."

"An innovative, polished, crisply written book that will peak the interest of scholars even as it appeals to some educated general readers."

"In this lucidly written and cogently organized monograph, [Mulcahy] argues that the destruction wrought by hurricanes only acquires meaning in the context of the community that experienced it... A wonderful read and a stimulating piece of scholarship."

"A thoughtful consideration of all sorts of issues at the heart of early British American history."

"Will reward almost any reader. Scholars interested in Barbados, Jamaica, or South Carolina will want to have it on their bookshelves."

"A valuable book for anyone who wants to understand the British Greater Caribbean."

"As the impact of hurricanes challenges contemporary societies, a well-researched volume that considers the uneven development of local adaptive strategies and central aid policies is valuable... A well-written and thought-provoking study."

"Mulcahy's vivid descriptions of Caribbean hurricanes, their impact on colonial economic and social life, and their effects on the larger Atlantic world is a most valuable contribution to the recent number of books on disasters in history."

"Path-breaking and original... Mulcahy has creatively exploited the paper trails left by major seventeenth- and eighteenth-century hurricanes as probes into changing social relations in the British Caribbean."

"This book will interest not only scholars interested in how past groups have addressed the challenges of new environmental phenomena but also those interested in how people have learned or failed to learn from these events and how many of the fears and misconceptions of the past still shape and distort our views of disasters today."

"Intriguing and well-written analysis of the cultural impact of hurricanes in the plantation regions of seventeenth and eighteenth century British America."

"Solid, well-researched study. One hopes that he is just starting a provocative research career dealing with the history of geographical hazards in the Caribbean and adjacent rimland zones. He is certainly off to a promising start."

"By drawing on the perspectives of disaster studies and environmental history, Mulcahy's work implicitly raises provocative questions for the history of meteorology."

"Mulcahy certainly takes his place in the growing field of environmental history with this useful and intriguing study, which should prove of value to scholars in a wide variety of fields ranging from environmental history, Caribbean studies, cultural and intellectual history, to economic and colonial histories. Well-written and concise, yet possessed of sufficient depth to engender future research projects, Hurricanes and Society is a worthy contribution to its field."

"An excellent book on the role and impact of Caribbean hurricanes on the greater British Caribbean. A fine piece of scholarship, thoroughly researched, clearly and elegantly written. A major contribution to the topic."