Volume 3 looks at various aspects of slave societies in the region from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Throughout the tortuous history of the Caribbean, nothing exceeded in fundamental importance the twin experiences of slavery and the plantation system, the defining episodes of Caribbean social reality. Topics addressed include: European 'settler colonies, ' the sugar revolutions, forms of resistance, the influence of creolization and religious beliefs, and the place of the Maroon communities. Knight also examines the internal and external forces that led to the eventual collapse of the Caribbean slave system.