About This Book
The author presents a chronological history of Suriname beginning with its indigenous inhabitants and continuing through European exploration, colonization, internecine struggles for control, the English interregnum (1804–1816), and developments into the modern era. Drawing extensively on unpublished gubernatorial minutes, diaries, and state papers from Dutch and British archives, the narrative reconstructs political decisions, administrative conflicts, and social relations among white, colored, and black populations. The treatment balances criticism and praise of officials, acknowledges source gaps, and supplements the text with appendices on missionary activity, a chronological table, colonial charters, and clergy lists, while omitting extensive statistical tables and illustrative plates.