Author:Matthew Parker
For 200 years after 1650 the West Indies were the most fought-over colonies in the world, as Europeans made and lost immense fortunes growing and trading in sugar - a commodity so lucrative that it was known as white gold.
Young men, beset by death and disease, an ocean away from the moral anchors of life in Britain, created immense dynastic wealth but produced a society poisoned by war, sickness, cruelty and corruption.
The Sugar Barons explores the lives and experiences of those whose fortunes rose and fell with the West Indian empire. From the ambitious and brilliant entrepreneurs, to the grandees wielding power across the Atlantic, to the inheritors often consumed by decadence, disgrace and madness, this is the compelling story of how a few small islands and a handful of families decisively shaped the British Empire.
Compelling, wonderful . . . The Sugar Barons is an exemplary book; history as it should be written
—— IndependentGripping . . . a compendium of greed, horrible ingenuity and wickedness, but also a fascinating and thoughtful social history
—— William DalrympleA shocking tale of corruption and brutality ... an admirable and gripping history
—— Sunday TimesVery impressive - a meticulously researched piece of work, and so engagingly written ... what a story!
—— Andrea Levy, author of Small Island and Long SongA tumultuous rollercoaster of a book ... Mr Parker tells an extraordinary, neglected and shameful history with gusto
—— EconomistParker's descriptions of West Indian life are not only beautifully crafted but full of surprises. What's more, his accounts of tropical combat are utterly compelling. As a portrait of the heat, horror and vanity of that time, The Sugar Barons is surely without equal
—— John Gimlette , SpectatorParker's epic story, from the 19th century to the present day, is awesome
—— The TimesAn epic tale of human folly and endeavour, beautifully told and researched
—— John le CarreAlternately excoriating and scintillating, Parker's account blends an analysis of how slavery deformed Britain's early empire with narratives worthy of Conrad. It is a tale peopled by terrifying grotesques: captains of industry whose initiative, swagger and fortitude were more than matched by the monstrous scale of their crimes.
—— Tom Holland , Guardian (Book of the Year)Fabulously researched, the diary entries, letters and papers reveal a staggering level of corruption and cruelty . . . He constructs, piece by piece, what amounts to a compelling prosecution of the slavery and Imperial greed that left a shocking legacy in the region
—— WanderlustRacy, well-researched history . . . The Sugar Barons provides eloquent testimony to the mercantile greed of a few and manifest misery endured by millions in the pursuit of sweetness
—— Ian Thomson , GuardianRequired reading for anyone interested in history ... timely and thrillingly told
—— Literary ReviewA meticulously researched project which took me back to my own childhood
—— bookbag.comSteve Roud's magisterial The Lore of the Playground takes us deeper in to a collective experience
—— The Times Christmas Books
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