The principal objective of this volume of the "General History of the Caribbean" is to provide a survey of the development of historical understanding in the region. It also seeks to point to the future, setting out a new agenda and reflecting on the potential of new methods and interpretations. There are three sections. The first examines sources of historical evidence and the techniques used to study them for the purpose of writing Caribbean history. In the second, the historiography of the region is treated thematically, tracing the changes in the interpretation of the past. The third is devoted to the historiography of particular territories and history-writing in all its branches.