Excellent It bailed us out when we ran out of light before getting into the anchorage at Philipsburg and got us into several beaches that were completely deserted.

A bit dated is spots (it is 7 years old) For example, Saba has installed a number of excellent mooring on the south and west sides on the island, making it much easier to get either by the traditional landing or LLadder Landing on the West side. There is a road down to that now (no more 1000 steps to climb). However it was out when we were there (4-1-00)

We've sailed and chartered in the USVI and BVI numerous times and ALWAYS take this guide with us. From little known anchorages (Mermaids Chair on St. Thomas) to the most frequented (Great Harbor on Yost Van Dyke)this guide is without equal.

Although I have been sailing for 40 years, this was the most useful and informative sailing guide I have ever read. It adverted me from several unknown and possibly costly collisions...and I'm not referring to other boats. His harbor guides and navigational charts were indispensible! BUY BUY BUY!!!!

Explore the culture of the French Caribbean while experiencing its popular music is the invitation from Brenda F. Berrian in her seminal text, Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music and Culture. Berrian gives the reader a comprehensive critique of the composers, singers, and production of music on the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Berrian combines insightful scholarship with her joyous celebration of the artistry of the music makers. For lovers of this music, Awakening Spaces features all of the major players: the bands of Malavoi, Kassav', Taxikréol, Kwak, and Volt Face; the singers Joselyne Béroard, Patrick Saint Éloi, and Pôglo; the instrumentalists Jean-Paul Soime, Mario Canonge, and Mano Césaire; and versatile artists like Henri Guédon who excels as a composer, percussionist, and painter.

Berrian's book is a treasure trove of personal interviews with musicians and original transcriptions of song lyrics in French Creole and English. Awakening Spaces effectively bridges the past and present in Francophone Caribbean music for all lovers of music-be they exuberant fans of zouk or musicologists.

Well, when I first received this book in the mail for my review, I looked at the front and then the back cover and the first thing that came to mind is the phrase 'This I've got to see'. Why? Because this book discusses and analyzes in English, music from French West Indies sung primarily in Creole. Those of you who know Creole also know that is a very metaphoric, symbolic language that is sometimes difficult to decipher when you are not from a Creole background. To take the lyrics and deduct valid conclusions about the francophone culture would be no easy task. Well a couple of pages into the book, my qualms were put away, and I discovered a pleasant, vibrant book that covers such a broad range of topics: lyrics, politics, perception, tradition and culture all based on French Caribbean popular songs and music. The author Brenda F. Berrian, has taken the time to go deep into the scene of Martinique's and Guadeloupe's artistry with candid interviews, and lyrical analysis, all wrapped up neatly with her well thought out and researched interpretations and conclusions. The read was an enjoyable flirt with wonderful Creole songs, and to someone who is familiar with the music that is being showcased in the book, the book will be a ten-fold more enjoyable. Brenda's often-comical anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter are also a very nice touch. Over all, I'd recommend this book to those who have been to the French West Indies and have wondered what was being said and why. If you are a fan of Zouk music, Biguine, Ka, French Reggae; you'll especially want to pick this book up! Bravo Brenda on a job well done! I will write a more detailed review for the readers of www.zoukarchive.com. In the meantime definitely pick up this book!

To me this review does not do justice to the most compelling aspect of the book, which is how political pressure, and assurances of safety in the face of all evidence to the contrary, by governmental officials and other trusted leaders dissuaded the people of St. Pierre from evacuating the city in time to save their lives. I read this book many years ago and have forgotten some of the details, but this theme -- more popularly explored in "Jaws" and recently in "Isaac's Storm" -- has stayed in my mind. Most readers will never be threatened by a volcanic eruption, but this book is a somewhat grim reminder that our own leaders may be lying about impending natural disasters. Remember Pelee!

Thomas and Witts tell the story of a week in May, 1902,when the Carrabean city of St. Pierre was obliterated by a volcanic eruption. When I first saw this book, I wondered how anyone could pen over 150 pages on a volcano that wiped a city out in seconds, leaving only two survivors. I thought there would not be much to write about. Boy was I wrong! It turns out that in the week prior to the eruption, St. Pierre was hit by landslides, a tsunami, and even a deadly snake infestation! Several hundred were killed before the great event itself. The final eruption is simply the climatic horror and can almost be seen as a blessing, putting people out of their misery. This book is probably hard to find now, but it is worth getting, and will interest just about everyone from the scientist to the casual reader.

"A superb calaloo of a book whose ingredients of autobiography, historical narrative and the anthropologist's pursuit of the origin of folk memories reconstruct the life of a Martinique fishing village. Richard Price has a remarkable grasp of the literatures of the Caribbean, and draws on this resource to explore the underlying insanity of the colonial experience, as well as the bewildering complexities of the post-colonial world where memory is erased or invented according to the demands of a market modernity."
--George Lamming, author of In the Castle of My Skin, Natives of My Person, The Pleasures of Exile, Season of Adventure

"A wonderfully readable fusion of anthropology and memoir about culture, colonialism, and madness in the Caribbean. Price practices what a lot of postmodernists preach; the book's graceful writing and innovative form, tossing the reader back and forth in time and space, is supported by solid and original scholarship."
--Lucy R. Lippard, author of Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America

"By beautifully crafting elements as disparate as biographical data, sociological studies, literary sources, and archival documents, Richard Price's research is more fascinationg than a piece of fiction."
--Maryse Condé, author of I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, Crossing the Mangrove, and The Last of the African Kings

"An engrossing and compelling book. . . . Richard Price continues to build a body of work that in seriousness and self-revelation goes beyond even the work of Clifford Geertz. But he is more than an anthropologist and stylist; he is a moralist, one who demands to be taken seriously. He enters the discussion of modern culture with Lévi-Strauss' Tristes Tropiques but he is able to carry it further than the master, because he has kept his intellectualizing anchored in the experience of cultural and social difference."
--Roger D. Abrahams, author of Singing the Master and Afro-American Folktales

"Price does it again. Mixing eras, genres and voices, he carries the reader through the contradictory streams of historical consciousness in the Caribbean island of Martinique. The result is as complex and as enticing as the sea it evokes."
--Michel-Rolph Trouillot, author of Silencing the Past

this book shows us great authors and works from the carribean, an often overlooked region of the world when it comes to literature. a must for anyone wanting interested in that region and its art.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I felt like I was pulled into this book and placed right before the characters. Conde is a wonderful writer who takes the reader on an exciting and thrilling journey. Potential readers, don't be put off because this book is not an easy read. It is well worth your time and you'll be surprised at how very interesting it is.

It was announced in April, 1999, that The Mt. Pelée Redemption has been selected by Independent Publisher Magazine as the best visionary fiction title in its "1999 Independent Publisher Book Awards" contest. The awards attracted a total of 1293 titles from 645 independent publishers throughout North America.

This is the guide that contains everything one needs for a vacation in Martinique. It gives details on activities ranging from free rum tastings to the volcano museum to Napoleon's Josephine to Gaugin, the painter. The guide is honest when rating attractions; only the most interesting are given three stars. I have looked at every guide to Martinique I could find, and this is the only one I would buy.

A friend gave me a copy of The Last Days of St. Pierre, so I figured I'd at least read the first chapter or so, even though disasters aren't usually my thing. WOW! WHAT A SURPRISE! I had a hard time putting this book down!

The first chapter begins with the personal journal of a sailor who passed some fifty miles from the volcano on the day of the disaster in 1902, then docked on another island to find the burned out hull of a large steamer that had escaped the eruption while 18 other ships sank. Then the scene shifts to Washington, New York, Philadelphia, and Paris, where the first sketchy reports of the disaster are arriving by telegraph. Then the preparations of the scientist and journalists who head off to Martinique to unravel the mysteries about what happened there. No reader can possibly stop here; you have to go on the Chapter 2.

Even though you think you know what's going to happen next, there is one surprise after another. And I found myself really caring about the many of the characters, trying to guess who will die and who will escape in time.

This true story is what I call a "MUST READ!"

perhaps the debate "is zebrowski's book a scientific account or a novel?" is best understood when we look at a simple fact: it has a human side. no writing can be strictly an "account" if it takes on the brutal task of touching on not just the facts but the sociological effects of such a disaster, as zebrowski's story does. and the humanization of a scientific fact of life is not a fault.

a novel or an account... why can't it be both? after all, what is a great story if not a wonderful descripton of a point in time, with characters and dialogue-and truth, at that.

and spelling geographical terms in a different way than we are used to is not a "liberty," it is a choice.

this is a truly phenomenal book. dr. zebrowski is clearly a scientist-and a writer.

This book is that rarity - a page turner about geological phenomena. I had no previous interest in or knowledge about volcanoes, but The Last Days of St. Pierre was hard to put down. The tragic history of Mount Pelee, its fatal eruption and horrific aftermath, come alive in the words of contemporary witnesses (and many who did not survive). I could see how Zebrowski must have identified with the adventurer-geologists who investigated the volcano after its initial eruption, for he describes their travels (and travails) vividly.

But this is not just a book for earth scientists. It deserves a wide general readership.

While I have greatly profited from the translator's hard work and I do recommend that anglophones have a copy of her English version handy; reading this book in English is like reading Faulkner or Joyce translated into French. Again, I wish to emphasize that the translator has done a good job -- but the magic of the original pales in translation.

Five stars for the original, which is available from www.amazon.fr

This is the first book I've read by Chamoiseau, it reminded me of Gabriel Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude", and is really fine literature, magical & funny, a caribbean tale of the island of Martinique. It begins in the time of slavery on the sugar plantations and ends in more modern, corporate times. The book's ending is surprisingly uplifting and postive. It was hard to decide what rating to give this book - certainly it deserves the highest praise, however I have a feeling this book is much better read in its' original language. There are footnotes throughout explaining original Creole terms used. I would recommend this to anyone interested in Caribbean history or "universal" world literature.

It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of this book...I had just recently finished reading another book with a more linear storyline, but I kept at it and was rewarded with a wonderful, highly nuanced, passionate, and an ultimately funny story told by Marie-Sophie, Texaco's protector. Texaco, the place, is the heartbeat of the Creole nation of Martinique. Texaco, the book is peppered with ideas that are more eloquently described by Creole words or phrases. Chamoiseau is a brilliant writer who for me recalls Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Umberto Eco. I highly enjoy his work.