Review by Choice Review
Cornell historian Bassi emphasizes the importance of New Granada's association and interaction with the Caribbean and coastal regions of Latin America and the US. By privileging sailors' transnational world, the author successfully reorients New Granada within a transimperial greater Caribbean. In constructing his argument, Bassi meticulously traces sailors' movements, casting them as the creators of important communication networks that told of a world of movement, human agency, and fluidity. Bassi emphasizes that history is not fixed, and that historians must consider and give attention to other possible historical outcomes. He argues that a transimperial framework de-emphasizes the nation-state and allows other important narratives to come to the fore. For instance, Bassi argues that during the Age of Revolutions, people often lived between a host of imperial projects and realities, and many held ideas, dreams, and ideals not reflected in the emerging nation-states. Bassi's transimperial greater Caribbean allows for new and valuable perspectives that specialists and advanced graduate students should read. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students/faculty/specialists. --John Rankin, East Tennessee State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
