{"product_id":"dying-to-better-themselves-west-indians-and-the-building-of-the-panama-canal-9789766404574","title":"Dying to Better Themselves: West Indians and the Building of the Panama Canal","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe popular West Indian migration narrative often starts with the \"\u003ci\u003eWindrush\u003c\/i\u003e Generation\"in 1950s' England, but in \u003ci\u003eDying to Better Themselves\u003c\/i\u003e Olive Senior examines an earlier narrative: that of the neglected post-emancipation generation of the 1850s who were lured to Panama by the promise of lucrative work and who initiated a pattern of circular migration that would transform the islands economically, socially and politically well into the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWest Indians provided the bulk of the workforce for the construction of the Panama Railroad and the Panama Canal, and between 1850 and 1914 untold numbers sacrificed their lives, limbs and mental faculties to the Panama project. Many West Indians remained as settlers, their descendants now citizens of Panama; many returned home with enough of a nest egg to better themselves; and others launched themselves elsewhere in the Americas as work beckoned.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSenior tells the compelling story of the West Indian rite of passage of \"going to Panama\" and captures the complexities behind the iconic \"Col?n Man\". Drawing on official records, contemporary newspapers, journals and books, songs, sayings, and literature, and the words of the participants themselves, Senior answers the questions of who went to Panama, how and why; she describes the work they did there, the conditions under which they lived, and the impact on their homelands when they returned or on the host societies when they stayed.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMany books have shown how the \"conquest\" of the Isthmus of Panama by land and sea revolutionized the modern world. \u003ci\u003eDying to Better Themselves\u003c\/i\u003e distinguishes itself by exploring how the myriad individuals touched by the construction of the railroad and the canal changed their Caribbean world as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSenior, Olive:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eOLIVE SENIOR\u003c\/b\u003e is a leading Caribbean author, well known for her prize-winning works of fiction (\u003ci\u003eSummer Lightning\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eArrival of the Snake-Woman\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eDiscerner of Hearts\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eDancing Lessons\u003c\/i\u003e) and poetry (\u003ci\u003eTalking of Trees\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eGardening in the Tropics\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eOver the Roofs of the World\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eShell\u003c\/i\u003e). Her non-fiction works include \u003ci\u003eThe A-Z of Jamaican Heritage, The Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWorking Miracles: Women's Lives in the English-Speaking Caribbean\u003c\/i\u003e. Her many awards include the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Musgrave Gold Medal of the Institute of Jamaica. Olive Senior lives in Toronto and Jamaica.","brand":"University of the West Indies Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50858181099794,"sku":"9789766404574","price":41.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_71bffec1-29f0-4450-a1e3-9a092cdb0f97.jpg?v=1737542102","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/dying-to-better-themselves-west-indians-and-the-building-of-the-panama-canal-9789766404574","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}