A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados

The True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados (1657) is an account by Richard Ligon of the early history of the English settlement on Barbados. Arriving near the time of the so-called "sugar revolution," Ligon narrates in detail life on the island, the tensions between masters, slaves and servants, and discusses plant and animal life in the Caribbean. The text sheds light on the emergence of slavery in the English colonies, and reveals how Englishmen of the time perceived both other cultures and the natural world.