BOOKSIGNING AT UNDERCOVER BOOKS & GIFTS, GALLOWS BAY, ST. CROIX

On Saturday, December 4, 2010, William Boyer will be at Undercover Books from 2:00 – 4:00 in the afternoon signing his Second Edition of America’s Virgin Islands. In October of 2008, the publisher of the first edition of this book asked William Boyer to consider writing a second edition to update the book to include the period of 1980 to 2010. Mr. Boyer accepted the challenge and now we are fortunate to have his book in the second edition. The book covers the history of the Virgin Islands beginning with Columbus and the settlement of St. Croix and ending with the present.

Part I is entitled “Roots 1942-1917” and it covers Columbus, colonialism, slavery, repression and rebellion.

“As the labor-intensive crop of sugar replaced tobacco and other crops during the late seventeenth century, and as the armies of Louis XIV required increasing numbers of soldiers, bonded European labor was gradually replaced by African slavery…The total number of slaves in the Virgin Islands continued to increase through the eighteenth century until a peak was reached in 1803 of 35,727 of whom 27,161 were claimed by St. Croix, after which the number steadily declined in all three islands.”

Part II covers the freedom struggle (1917-1954).

“In the case of the Virgin Islands, the Danes evinced ‘almost no feeling of responsibility for the social problems,’ and their ‘lack of interest in anything beyond personal fortune persisted throughout the remaining years of Danish occupation.’

Campbell, St. Thomas Negroes – A Study of Personality and Culture

Part III describes “tourism syndrome” (1954-1980).

“A 1957 survey revealed the Virgin Islands were registering the third highest growth in tourism of all Caribbean islands. The number of cruise ship visits to St. Thomas increased from forty-eight in fiscal year 1956-57 to one hundred and fifty seven in 1960-61 when 247,700 visitors came to the Islands.”

Part IV deals with “Persisting Problems” (1980-2010). This includes constitutional conundrums, crime, health care, educational challenges and more.

The book is complete with photos, illustrations, tables and maps. In his introduction, William Boyer writes

“The Virgin Islands…are appropriately called ‘America’s Paradise,’ and enjoy a near-perfect climate with an average temperature of 78 degrees throughout the year. Each island has something unique to offer the visitor-the Old World charm, architecture and ruins of St. Croix, the most Danish of the islands; the incomparable panoramic view from the mountaintops of St. Thomas of one of the most beautiful enclosed harbors in the world; and the unspoiled, natural, relaxed setting of forested mountains and valleys of St. John which boasts the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. “

“In many respects the American Virgin Islands are a microcosm of the human family. The diversity of their physical environment is matched by the diversity of their people. There is a history of the Virgin Islands of the United States. It is a record of the people of the Virgin Islands and the struggles of their greater number as slaves, serfs, and citizens to gain control of their own destiny. This is a history, broadly concieved , of human rights and human wrongs.”

William Boyer is the Charles Polk Messick Professor Emeritus of the Department of Political Science and International Relations and Visiting Scholar in the Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research at the University of Delaware. After earning his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science and American cultural and intellectual history at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), Dr. Boyer became an internationally recognized scholar of development in less developed countries – an interest first kindled during his World War II experience in the eastern Caribbean. Having conducted a unique around-the-world lecture tour of seven Asian nations for the U.S. State Department and served as management consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Caribbean Basin, Dr. Boyer has been a visiting professor at the University of the Virgin Islands, professor-advisor in Pakistan, Fulbright professor in India and South Korea, Ford Foundation professor in Malaysia, Asia Foundation consultant in Bangladesh, the only American member of the United Nations Group of Experts on Methodologies of Policy Analysis and Development, and author of numerous books and articles on public affairs.

Cover: U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing (left) handing a “warrant” for purchase of the Islands of $25 million in gold to the Danish Minister, 1917. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

For more information please contact Kathy Bennett at Undercover Books & Gifts 340-719-1567 or email the author at wwboyer@udel.edu