Book excerpt: Offering a rare pan-Caribbean perspective on a region that has moved from the very center of the western world to its periphery, The Caribbean journeys through five centuries of economic and social development, emphasizing such topics as the slave-run plantation economy, the changes in political control over the centuries, the impact of the United States, and the effects of Castro's Cuban revolution on the area. The newly revised Second Edition clarifies the notions of "settler" and "exploitation" societies, makes more explicit the characteristics of state formation and the concept of fragmented nationalism, incorporates the results of recent scholarship, expands treatment of the modern period, updates the chronology of events, and adds a number of new tables. Integrating social analysis with political narrative, The Caribbean provides a unique perspective on the problems of nation-building in an area of dense populations, scarce resources, and an explosive political climate.