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A review by bahareads
Gateways to the New World: Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Shaping of the Americas by Keith L. Tinker
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Keith Tinker says Gateways to the New Word explores the impact of the social, political, economic, and religious development of The Bahamas and Bermuda on the developing Atlantic World (focused on the 17th and 18th century). However the book ends up focusing mostly on The Bahamas.
Tinker was inspired by Michael Jarvis' In the Eye of All Trade to fill the historiographical gaps that marginalize Bermuda and The Bahamas. He seeks to present another perspective on the role of The Bahamas and Bermuda in the general history of the Atlantic world.
The time period Tinker covers goes from before Columbus up to the present day, which makes the narrative become stretched thin. He does not do a balanced job of covering Bermuda and The Bahamas, instead most of his narrative base is anchored in The Bahamas, and how Bermuda impacts the islands. Bermuda is covered only up to the time of the golden age of piracy, and then in the last two chapters.
There is not enough primary source material used for the study. Tinker attempts to coast off of secondary sources, hoping that will provide enough for his study. It does not. However I think this issue is partly due to the wide timeline and topics he is trying to cover, if he had kept to only the 17th and 18th century and narrowed down the study it would have been better covered. In covering too much, some of the source material is not critically interrogated, instead some of the historical actors' POVs are taken at face value.
Overall the point of the book is missed in the body of it but I believe that the thesis should be studied and expanded more because both Bermuda and The Bahamas are marginalized places in the Atlantic.
Tinker was inspired by Michael Jarvis' In the Eye of All Trade to fill the historiographical gaps that marginalize Bermuda and The Bahamas. He seeks to present another perspective on the role of The Bahamas and Bermuda in the general history of the Atlantic world.
The time period Tinker covers goes from before Columbus up to the present day, which makes the narrative become stretched thin. He does not do a balanced job of covering Bermuda and The Bahamas, instead most of his narrative base is anchored in The Bahamas, and how Bermuda impacts the islands. Bermuda is covered only up to the time of the golden age of piracy, and then in the last two chapters.
There is not enough primary source material used for the study. Tinker attempts to coast off of secondary sources, hoping that will provide enough for his study. It does not. However I think this issue is partly due to the wide timeline and topics he is trying to cover, if he had kept to only the 17th and 18th century and narrowed down the study it would have been better covered. In covering too much, some of the source material is not critically interrogated, instead some of the historical actors' POVs are taken at face value.
Overall the point of the book is missed in the body of it but I believe that the thesis should be studied and expanded more because both Bermuda and The Bahamas are marginalized places in the Atlantic.