Guyana: An African Dictatorship?
The story of Guyana is winding, and often dark. Guyana at independence, you could say, was made up of people who rather hadn’t wanted to come here. This video is going to tell the story of Guyana since its independence and how it came to be where it is now, a country about to be transformed. We are going to look at its divisions and its darkness and hopefully also what is beautiful. This is the story of the years of Linden Forbes Burnham.
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Sources and recommendations (with Amazon links- If you buy I will earn a small commission)
John Gimlette, Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge, 2011 (https://amzn.to/4ugwqsp)
A lyrically written travel account on the three Guianas. It's fun, and poetic, and deeply researched.
Saamaka Dreaming, Richard Price and Sally Price, 2017 (https://amzn.to/4suIJQ2)
The single (and perhaps only?) book to read on the culture of the Saamaka in Suriname while it still partially existed. The account of two anthropologists.
John Hemming, Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon, 2008 (https://amzn.to/4snyxsK)
The standard account of the history of the Amazon rainforest. Comprehensive, and much better written than your average dry history.
Charles C. Mann, 1491: The Americas Before Columbus, 2005 (https://amzn.to/47h1MoQ)
One of my favourite books I've ever read. A story elegantly told, and it will change the way you think about the Americas before the European arrival.
Charles C. Mann, 1493: How the Ecological Collision of Europe and the Americas Gave Rise to the Modern World, 2011 (https://amzn.to/4lcckeI)
The sequel to the above, about the world that was created by the connecting of the Americas to the world system.
McNeill, J. R, Mosquito Empires; Ecology and War in the Greater Carribbean, 2010 (https://amzn.to/40hxHle)
It seems like it might be a dry history book, but it's much better than that. Argues convincingly for the crucial role of disease (hence the mosquito) in the story of the Americas.
English colonies in Guiana and on the Amazon, 1604-1668, James A. Williamson, 1923
00:00 Intro
00:59 British Guiana
02:20 Independence
04:32 A Turn to Socialism
07:22 Georgetown to Linden
09:00 Linden to Kurupukari
10:42 Michelle's Island
16:40 Road to Rupununi
19:15 Seeds of Discontent
19:45 Border Disputes
22:23 Rebellion
24:48 Jonestown
29:51 The End of Burnham
34:05 Annai