Maroons—enslaved Africans who escaped and formed autonomous communities—dominated Dominica’s hilly interior for centuries. Dominica’s unusual history of a relatively brief period of colonization and few sugar plantations shaped a history of Maroon life very different from the more familiar experiences of Jamaican Maroons. Here they were able to exploit differences among Europeans and elude slavery to a much greater extent. With meticulous attention to detail,
Lennox Honychurch's new book
In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica (University Press of Mississippi, 2017)
tells the fascinating stories of these communities and offers accounts of both heroism and tragedy.