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Sailing the Caribbean

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXCRB166. Buy these 4 items as a set for $68 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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A Continent of Islands, Searching for the Caribbean Destiny

A Continent of Islands, Searching for the Caribbean Destiny

by Mark Kurlansky

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 324 PAGES

A wonderfully observed social history of the Caribbean by a far-ranging journalist and favorite author. Kurlansky has a knack for honing in on the small details that make the Caribbean culturally unique, offering frank insight on music, religion, healthcare and the influence of the United States. (CRB12, $17.95)

A Small Place

A Small Place

by Jamaica Kincaid

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 81 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Antigua-born Kincaid meditates on the politics, history and culture of the islands in these remarkable short es-says. A useful antidote to the usual fun-in-the-sun ap-proach of the local tourist office, she shines a light on the poverty, corruption and startling beauty of the Caribbean. (CRB03, $13.00)

Insight Guide Caribbean: The Lesser Antilles

Insight Guide Caribbean: The Lesser Antilles

by Sarah Cameron | Insight Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

This handsome guide gives a profusely illustrated over-view of the region, featuring essays on natural history, politics and culture, hundreds of photos and maps, as well as useful travel notes. (CRB02, $24.99)

Caribbean Destination Map

Caribbean Destination Map

by National Geographic

  • 2011
  • MAP

A colorful map of the entire Caribbean basin from southern Florida to South America at a scale of 1:2,000,000. (CRB31, $16.95)

 
A Traveller's History of the Caribbean

A Traveller's History of the Caribbean


by James Ferguson

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

A concise history of the Caribbean Islands, beginning with a description of their formation and geologic attrib-utes and carrying through to the first civilizations in the region, right the way up to the modern tourism boom. (CRB42, $14.95)

Under the Black Flag, The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates

Under the Black Flag, The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates


by David Cordingly

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES

Meet Blackbeard and Captain Kidd along with lesser-known rogues and brigands in this rip-roaring portrait of pirates of the Caribbean. (CRB35, $16.00)

A Trip to the Beach


by Melinda Blanchard | Robert Blanchard

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

The delightful first-person account of a couple from Vermont starting a hotel in Anguilla, complete with the usual frustrations, delays, joys -- and a hurricane. (CRB75, $15.00)

A Caribbean Mystery

A Caribbean Mystery


by Agatha Christie

  • MYSTERY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 216 PAGES

Miss Marple solves a series of mysterious deaths on the Caribbean island where she is vacationing in this classic Agatha Christie, originally published in 1964. (CRB207, $12.99)

Caribbean


by James Michener

  • LITERATURE
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 672 PAGES

The sweeping, compulsively readable saga of the Caribbean, chock-full of historical detail. (CRB82, $16.00)

Don't Stop the Carnival

Don't Stop the Carnival


by Herman Wouk

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 395 PAGES

For a sense of life in the Caribbean, we recommend this humorous tale of Norman Paperman, a middle-aged American running a hotel on the fictional island of Amerigo. (CRB18, $15.99)

Easy in the Islands, Stories

Easy in the Islands, Stories


by Bob Shacochis

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 214 PAGES

A collection of short stories and one of the most evocative depictions of daily life on the islands. Shacochis's characters, from islanders and interlopers, all ring true and his writing is a graceful tribute to the music, politics and cultural quirks of the Caribbean. (CRB78, $13.00)

The Reverse of the Medal

The Reverse of the Medal


by Patrick O'Brian

  • LITERATURE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 287 PAGES

In book 11 of the Aubrey and Maturin series, Captain Jack and his surgeon/naturalist sidekick Stephen Maturin head from Barbados through the Caribbean across the Atlantic to the Azores and their old stomping grounds in London (where 2/3 of the novel is set). (ATL04, $15.95)

200 Conspicuous, Unusual, or Economically Important Tropical Plants of the Caribbean

200 Conspicuous, Unusual, or Economically Important Tropical Plants of the Caribbean


by John Kingsbury

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1988
  • PAPER
  • 220 PAGES

A general purpose plant identification guide to Caribbean shores, also useful for subtropical Florida. Features color photographs and short plant descriptions. (CRB01, $20.00)

Birds of the West Indies

Birds of the West Indies


by Herbert Raffaele

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 216 PAGES

A magnificently illustrated guide, featuring 86 color plates, range maps, and island checklists. Includes the endemic species of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica and other islands. (CRB161, $24.95)

Fishwatcher's Field Guide Caribbean

Fishwatcher's Field Guide Caribbean


by Idaz Greenberg

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • PLASTIC CARD

A convenient double-sided plastic card showing 75 reef fish of the Caribbean. (DIV11, $7.50)

Reef Fish Identification Caribbean

Reef Fish Identification Caribbean


by Paul Humann

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2002
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 400 PAGES

This definitive guide for underwater enthusiasts features 670 stunning color photographs of all the fishes of the tropical Atlantic. We also recommend Gulf of California (BJA39), Galapagos (DIV04) and Tropical Pacific (DIV49) in the same series, $39.95 each. (DIV03, $39.95)

Reefcomber's Guide, Caribbean

Reefcomber's Guide, Caribbean


by Idaz Greenberg

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1982
  • PLASTIC CARD

This double-sided laminated card depicts fish, corals and other invertebrates of the Caribbean. (DIV46, $7.50)

Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life

Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life


by Paul Humann

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 80 PAGES

Humann's compact guide illustrates Caribbean fishes, corals, invertebrates and plants commonly encountered in shallower water. (DIV02, $14.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.