Those familiar with Thames & Hudson’s World of Art series can predict the tone and format of this volume, which is a pioneering effort worthy of considerable attention and praise. It is certainly no easy task to codify and condense a region as complex and scattered as the Caribbean. The author, Veerle Poupeye (according to the Thames & Hudson publicity blurb) is a Jamaican-based art historian, critic, and curator, trained in Belgium. I wish I knew how much fieldwork and archival work the author accomplished, doing actual interviews rather than relying on the cited sources. This might help explain the emphasis placed on better documented art histories of Cuba and Puerto Rico as opposed to the smaller Anglophone islands. Although the book contains considerable important information, I found the read frustrating, as Poupeye fluctuates from well-written, intellectually thoughtful sections to scattered name-dropping accompanied by shallow discussions. Poupeye divides the book into two chronologically based chapters: “Prehispanic and Colonial Art” and “Modernism and Cultural Nationalism,” followed by five chapters arranged by such topics as “Revolution, Anti-Imperialism and Race Consciousness” and “Nature in Caribbean Art.” The Introduction should become required reading for anyone interested in Caribbean culture. A quick review of the...