Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar

A work of rich scholarship... Look Lai proves an adept and perceptive labor historian. His sensitive depiction of the world of the indentured East Asian workers of Trinidad and British Guyana is easily the best available: it is a notable achievement that sets a high standard for future research on the topic.

This carefully researched book... thoughtfully compares the experiences and responses of the Chinese and Indians as they settled in and became part of these colonial societies, the former often moving into trade and the later largely remaining in agriculture... A well written study, highly recommended for students of Asian-American and Caribbean studies, and migration history.

Look Lai's excellent book... is the first 'integrated' history of Asian migration to the Caribbean which incorporates (and often compares) the experiences of both Asian groups... illuminating an important chapter in Caribbean history.

Important not only for the study of Atlantic history and culture, but also for the comparative study of migration, labor coercion, and the effects of labor segmentation in the labor process... It is an excellent book, thoroughly researched, clearly organized, and well written, and it deserves a wide audience.

Should be required reading for Caribbeanists, scholars of Asian diasporas, and labor historians.