This is a collection of fact-based stories, written by the archivist of Jamaica and utilizing sources in their national archives, which illustrates Jamaica's history from the mid-1600s to mid-1800s. It is not really a popular history because the reading level is higher, but it's not really academic because the author chose not to include bibliographic references. As is the case with many collections of this type, some of the stories are more engaging than others. ( )