Sir Robert Schomburgk's history of Barbados, the island that was once Britain's foremost colonial possession in the Western Hemisphere, is a massive and all-embracing study of its subject. Every aspect of the island, from climatology to zoology, is described in detail and statistical tables of various kinds are scattered throughout the book. This classic in West Indian history gains even further interest from the period in which it was written - when just enough time had elapsed since the abolition of slavery to allow a judicious observer to give a valuable first-hand appraisal of its effects, and it is invaluable, not only for a study of the history of Barbados, but for its wealth of information about the island.