I've enjoyed so much "Centennial" and "The Drifters" that I had high hopes for this one too. But it felt a lot more disjointed. Maybe the history of the Caribbeans being contested by many nations (mostly Spain, England, and France) makes it harder to tell a unified story tying all the islands together. In any case it is still a good read to learn about the major events that influenced the Caribbeans such as the introduction of slavery and its variety of colonial settlements. Because of the multiplicity of governments managed from afar in Europe, the islands ended up with very subtle differences in characters which persist to today.