Louis James' book places the origin of Caribbean literature in English in its precise historical, linguistic, and geographical context. Beginning with Raleigh's Discoverie of...Guiana (1596), this innovative study traces the evolution of cultures which shared a common experience of slavery, but were intimately related to individual local areas. It traces the influence of pan-Caribbean movements, the impact of writing from the French territories, and the creation of an expatriate Caribbean identity in Britain and America. A literary map, chronology, essays on keynote topics, and up-to-date bibliographies are included to stimulate and facilitate follow-up research.