In Colonizing Paradise, historian Jefferson Dillman charts the broad spectrum of sentiments that British citizens and travelers held regarding their colonial possessions in the West Indies. Because British sentiments in the Caribbean located danger and evil not just in indigenous populations but in Spanish Catholics as well, Dillman’s work begins with the arrival of Spanish explorers and conquistadors. Colonizing Paradise spans the arrival of English ships and continues through the early nineteenth century and the colonial era. Dillman shows how colonial entrepreneurs, travelers, and settlers engaged in a disquieted dialogue with the landscape itself, a dialogue the examination of which sheds fresh light on the culture of the Anglophone colonial Caribbean.

Ultimately, although planters and their allies continued to promote pastoral and picturesque views of the Caribbean landscape, the goal of such narratives was to rationalize British rule, as well as to mask and obscure emerging West Indian problems such as diseases, slavery, and rebellions. Colonizing Paradise offers much to listeners interested in Caribbean, British, and colonial history.

The book is published by The University of Alabama Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"Offers a fascinating, deft treatment of European conceptions of the Caribbean landscape as viewed through the eyes of Christopher Columbus and Iberian explorers beginning in the late 15th century. Highly recommended." (CHOICE)

“A beautifully written, intelligent, and evocative account of an important theme in West Indian history and art history.” (Trevor Burnard, author of Planters, Merchants, and Slaves)