The Queen of Jamaica examines our relationship with the crown and explores the possibilities for our future as a people and that of monarchy in Jamaica. It is proposed that now is the time for Jamaica to say good-bye to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as our monarch. Before we close this chapter on the British Crown, there are a few questions to consider: Are we ready for complete independence? Is Jamaica inspired enough to take great strides forward on our own? Are we prepared to outline a long-term strategy for sustainable development and see it to fruition? Can we reform Jamaica from within, to create a powerhouse of progress and prosperity? What will happen to Jamaicans who hold British passports? What does it mean to be a Jamaican? How will separation from the crown affect our identity as a people? Will there be unexpected consequences to going it alone? Do we really want to be a republic? Is this form of government in keeping with our traditions in governance? What will be gained by adopting this model for our political future? What will be lost by abandoning the monarchy? Why not choose to have our own "working monarch?" Have we grown accustomed to having a lofty figurehead to look up to? Are our national interests best served by having such a person for the people to focus on as an example of what a fine and upstanding Jamaican should be? Would having such a leader that reflects our nation inspire greatness in our people? Learn more about the road to Jamaica's future in The Queen of Jamaica—A Crown for Our Empire.

The Queen of Jamaica examines our relationship with the crown and explores the possibilities for our future as a people and that of monarchy in Jamaica. It is proposed that now is the time for Jamaica to say good-bye to Britains Queen Elizabeth as our monarch. Before we close this chapter on the British Crown, there are a few questions to consider: Are we ready for complete independence? Is Jamaica inspired enough to take great strides forward on our own? Are we prepared to outline a long-term strategy for sustainable development and see it to fruition? Can we reform Jamaica from within, to create a powerhouse of progress and prosperity? What will happen to Jamaicans who hold British passports? What does it mean to be a Jamaican? How will separation from the crown affect our identity as a people? Will there be unexpected consequences to going it alone? Do we really want to be a republic? Is this form of government in keeping with our traditions in governance? What will be gained by adopting this model for our political future? What will be lost by abandoning the monarchy? Why not choose to have our own working monarch? Have we grown accustomed to having a lofty figurehead to look up to? Are our national interests best served by having such a person for the people to focus on as an example of what a fine and upstanding Jamaican should be? Would having such a leader that reflects our nation inspire greatness in our people? Learn more about the road to Jamaicas future in The Queen of JamaicaA Crown for Our Empire. Cover design by: The Jamaican Empire Graphic Studios www.jamaicanempire.com/art

Victorian Jamaica explores the extraordinary surviving archive of visual representation and material objects to provide a comprehensive account of Jamaican society during Queen Victoria's reign over the British Empire, from 1837 to 1901. In their analyses of material ranging from photographs of plantation laborers and landscape paintings to cricket team photographs, furniture, and architecture, as well as a wide range of texts, the contributors trace the relationship between black Jamaicans and colonial institutions; contextualize race within ritual and performance; and outline how material and visual culture helped shape the complex politics of colonial society. By narrating Victorian history from a Caribbean perspective, this richly illustrated volume—featuring 270 full-color images—offers a complex and nuanced portrait of Jamaica that expands our understanding of the wider history of the British Empire and Atlantic world during this period. Contributors. Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Tim Barringer, Anthony Bogues, David Boxer, Patrick Bryan, Steeve O. Buckridge, Julian Cresser, John M. Cross, Petrina Dacres, Belinda Edmondson, Nadia Ellis, Gillian Forrester, Catherine Hall, Gad Heuman, Rivke Jaffe, O'Neil Lawrence, Erica Moiah James, Jan Marsh, Wayne Modest, Daniel T. Neely, Mark Nesbitt, Diana Paton, Elizabeth Pigou-Dennis, Veerle Poupeye, Jennifer Raab, James Robertson, Shani Roper, Faith Smith, Nicole Smythe-Johnson, Dianne M. Stewart, Krista A. Thompson

THE THRILLING TRUE STORY OF HOW ONE WOMAN MASTERMINDED SLAVE RESISTANCE to British rule in eighteenth-century Jamaica - part of the True Adventures series 1720. Blue Mountains, windward Jamaica. High above the army camps and plantations of the British Empire, a group of ex-slaves - called Maroons are building a new home for themselves. When British soldiers enter the forests to hunt them down, one of the Maroons will lead the fight against them - Queen Nanny, a 'wise woman' with a reputation for ancient obeah magic, and a guerrilla fighter of genius. Under her generalship, her people will make a do-or-die defence of their freedom.

An analysis of the history of Queen Nanny, the 18th century leader of the Jamaican Maroons whose struggle against the institution of slavery on the island has up until now been largely ignored.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand inherited and adapted a monarchical framework of government, even in the absence of a resident monarch. Although steady transfer of the royal prerogative to a popularly elected executive has enabled these three former dominions to be sometimes described as "crowned republics" or "disguised republics", there was no popular drive to abandon monarchy until the 1990s, and even then the republican cause was based largely on issues of symbolism and national identity than on perceived core weaknesses in the political system. This book traces the long and sometimes subtle process of localising monarchy in the vice-regal office from the mid-twentieth century onwards, and compares the powers and functions of the Queen's surrogates with each other and with those of the monarch herself, including their recourse to the so-called "reserve powers". Among the key questions posed in this comparative study are: Can the current monarchical system be refined to the point of countering republican sentiment? Why has the republican argument gained more momentum in Australia than in Canada or New Zealand? Can a republican model retain residual monarchic elements? What is likely to be the lasting legacy of the Crown in these three strikingly similar political cultures? The author's underlying loyalties are neither firmly monarchist nor firmly republican. He is convinced, however, that the combined effects of a strong sense of national identity and an increasingly presidential style of political leadership within these three Westminster-derived systems make it difficult for contemporary governors-general (or their state and provincial colleagues)to fulfil two of their key roles-to unite and inspire the people on the one hand and to be a credible constitutional watchdog on the other.

One of our finest writers on one of her greatest loves. Jamaica Kincaid's first garden in Vermont was a plot in the middle of her front lawn. There, to the consternation of more experienced friends, she planted only seeds of the flowers she liked best. In My Garden (Book) she gathers all she loves about gardening and plants, and examines it generously, passionately, and with sharp, idiosyncratic discrimination. Kincaid's affections are matched in intensity only by her dislikes. She loves spring and summer but cannot bring herself to love winter, for it hides the garden. She adores the rhododendron Jane Grant, and appreciates ordinary Blue Lake string beans, but abhors the Asiatic lily. The sources of her inspiration -- seed catalogues, the gardener Gertrude Jekyll, gardens like Monet's at Giverny -- are subjected to intense scrutiny. She also examines the idea of the garden on Antigua, where she grew up. My Garden (Book) is an intimate, playful, and penetrating book on gardens, the plants that fill them, and the persons who tend them.