The Guyana Story: From Earliest Times to Independence

by Odeen Ishmael

The Guyana Story—From Earliest Times to Independence traces the country’s history from thousands of years ago when the first Amerindian groups began to settle on the Guyana territory. It examines the period of early European exploration leading to Dutch colonization, the forcible introduction of African slaves to work on cotton and sugar plantations, the effects of European wars, and the final ceding of the territory to the British who ruled it as their colony until they finally granted it independence in 1966. The book also tells of Indian, Chinese, and Portuguese indentured immigration and shows how the cultural interrelationships among the various ethnic groups introduced newer forms of conflict, but also brought about cooperation in the struggles of the workers for better working and living conditions. The final part describes the roles of the political leaders who arose from among these ethnic groups from the late 1940s and began the political struggle against colonialism and the demand for independence. This struggle led to political turbulence in the 1950s and early 1960s when the country was caught in the crosshairs of the cold war resulting in joint British-American devious actions that undermined a democratically elected pro-socialist government and deliberately delayed independence for the country until a government friendly to their international interests came to power.

Genres: History

690 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2013

Reviews

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the years I met several people from Guyana and became fascinated with it's unusual constitution, as an English-speaking country in South America, with large Afro- and Indo-Guyanese populations. I determined to visit the place and, when arrangements were made to do so, I wanted to read about its history so I could better understand what I would see there. For this purpose Ishmael's book was admirably suited, if somewhat daunting in scope.

The author does not spend a lot of time with the pre-European period, but he is thorough in his review of the colonial era. I was surprised to learn that the country was Dutch for as long as it was, and that there was a substantial Portuguese population there. The author was really quite exhaustive in explaining how Guyana gained independence, ending the story in the 1960s, when that milestone was reached.

For Ishmael the country's independence hero was former Premier and President of Guyana Cheddi Jagan, who many consider to be the father of the nation. The story of his resolve in dealing with the politcal issues of his country, such as poverty and ethnic strife, along with the disruptive activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the imperial authorities and his Afro-Guyanese rival Forbes Burnham was mesmerizing.

If you want a summary history of Guyana this book, at nearly 700 pages, is not for you. However, if you really want to understand how it developed, I highly recommend it.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's extremely dense in some parts, mostly in the early sections about the eras before British Guiana, but you won't find a more comprehensive history of the country. It ends shortly after independence, but I wish it went further.

In particular, the book does a fantastic job of covering all the trickery, manipulation, cheating, and outright thuggery the US/Britain/PNC/UF/Burnham engaged in to subvert the will of the people and set Guyana on the path to the corrupt, racially divided country it is today.

A+ example of how British colonialism sowed sickness and rot around the globe.

[jimsgravitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

To begin with, I enjoyed the author's objectivity. You can tell he is an ambassador as his writing makes you want to visit his country.

However, there are a few minor notes and biases as the story progresses.

The PPP policies were openly communist. This wasn't alleged or anti-communist propaganda as stated repeatedly by the author, it was open and overt, sane people should have an issue with it.

Communism is NOT anti-colonial.

Not sure why it is viewed this way. It is not progressive either. There is no communist country that supports these weird assumptions; it is a regressive ideology and very imperialistic once implemented.

Communism is anti-human.

Everyone who can should fight communism wherever it rears its ugly head. I have no idea why it gets special treatment; it carries the same stigma as Nazism and is, in fact, much worse.

I need to learn more about Guyana as a country, but I earnestly hope for the sake of Guyanese it has remained free of Marxism in any form.

[Erik Champenois · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of Guyana's history, albeit one that lacks deeper analysis and that doesn't try to be objective about internal politics preceding Guyana's independence. The chapters apparently started as individual newspaper articles, which makes for a more stilted narrative. There also aren't any footnotes or endnotes. Still, it's a useful overview of an interesting country, and one of the few books available on Guyanese history.

[I A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep, yet easy to understand, look at the history of Guyana until independence. Depending on what you're looking for, some chapters may bore. But there is something here for everyone.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough account - although Burnham supporters would take issue with the very pro Jagan stance!

[Alexander Stadnyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heard about Guyana

Interesting book. Guyana has impressive history of struggle and hopefully happy ending. Multicultural country with 2/3 of lands claimed by Venezuela.

[Ginger Webb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overall this is a deeply disappointing effort, with the first half amounting to little more than a pedestrian and disjointed run-through of historical events up to the late 1940s and the second section turning into a shockingly biased account of the political machinations that led up to Guyana's independence in 1966.

Many of the chapters were initially written as newspaper articles, and while this means they are at least short and to the point, it also leads to a fair deal of repetition and not much in the way of depth or analysis. Consequently the first half in particular has a school textbook feel to it, with each small essay rarely featuring any nuance or interpretation.

The opening section is, though, at least reasonably unbiased, even if in a largely unsophisticated manner. The second half, by contrast, abandons any pretence of neutrality in favour of a discourse that unremittingly favours the viewpoint of one of Guyana's chief independence-era politicians, Cheddi Jagan, the first premier of the country.

Essentially taking the stance that Jagan was right and everyone else was wrong, the last 250 pages of the book are a staggeringly one-eyed interpretation of events that turned Jagan, at one time the man most likely to lead his country to independence, into an also-ran who had to watch his bitter rival, Forbes Burnham, lead Guyana for its first 20 years.

The bias is not even subtle, and the author's use of language is laughably and transparently prejudiced. Democratically elected opposition parties are 'anti-government forces'; anyone who holds a different viewpoint to Jagan 'refuses to agree' with him, or 'refuses to comply' with his requests, while newspapers are described as 'openly supporting' politicians opposed to Jagan, as if that's some sort of shameful crime.

I hold no brief for either Jagan or Burnham, but the least I expect from a 'history' book is a bit of neutrality so that the reader can make up his or her mind. In this case, no attempt has been made in that direction at all.