The Post-War Decline of the Sugar Economy in the Commonwealth Caribbean

Ever since the introduction of sugar cane into the Commonwealth Caribbean in the seventeenth century, sugar has been an important factor not only in the economies of these countries, but in their politics and culture as well. Indeed, in a very real sense, the modern history of these countries is the history of sugar in the Caribbean. So pervasive has been the influence of sugar on the socio-economic organisation that although sugar cane may eventually disappear from the landscape completely, its legacies will continue to be felt for a very long time in every facet of Caribbean life.