![](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811080/24501/cover/9781108024501.jpg)
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Online publication date:
- November 2015
- Print publication year:
- 2012
- First published in:
- 1827
- Online ISBN:
- 9780511790065
22 August 2024: Due to technical disruption, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working to restore services and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/universitypress/about-us/news-and-blogs/cambridge-university-press-publishing-update-following-technical-disruption
Thomas Southey (1777–1838) joined the navy at the age of twelve, saw action during the French Revolutionary Wars, and was first posted to the West Indies in early 1804. Promoted to captain in 1811 and later employed as a customs officer, he died on the voyage home from his last posting in Demerara. His only book, published in 1827, is dedicated to his older brother, Robert, a Romantic poet, who also wrote on historical subjects (his books on Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Brazil are also available in the Cambridge Library Collection). Thomas' three-volume work draws on extensive reading, with substantial passages quoted verbatim from his sources. He concludes that the history of the West Indies presents 'little more than a melancholy series of calamities and crimes', but commends the British government's efforts to put an end to slavery. Volume 1 covers the period from 1492 to 1654.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.
Usage data cannot currently be displayed.