The second half of the 20th century was a time of adjustment over much of the world. It was during this period of time that many of the colonial nations of the world provided self-determination to the vast majority of the soon to be nations that made up their colonial empire. The reasons for this were many fold, but some of the major ones were an inability to afford to keep them, desires to be self-governing among the population, or even outside forces fomenting revolution.

One of those colonial powers was the Netherlands. Post WWII saw them lose a fairly major chunk of land in what eventually became Indonesia. The other area that eventually became free was Suriname on the northern coast of South America. This was not sparked by bloody revolution, but by a real desire of the populace to want to determine their own fate. Initially, the Surinamese were provided autonomy and later full independence.

However, the nation was still fairly dependent of the Dutch to provide security in terms of military and financial assistance while the nation got on its feet. In December of 1975, 300 years of Dutch colonial rule came to an end.

One would like to think that things went well, but as often happens, the new government was unable to keep many of its promised reforms and this led to not only unrest, but to a series of coups and leadership changes that occured with somewhat frequent regularity, culminating in the worst one of 1981/82, where this volume ends.

The author has direct knowledge of the history of Suriname, having lived there for several years. As such, he has done proper research into the various events from the initial colonization until the end of the 1982 coup. One of the things I've really come to like about Helion books is that they provide a great deal of insight into not only the events of the time, but also the politics behind it and those who are the instigators of various factions within the political spectrum. Add to it some well chosen period photos as well as various maps and charts so that we can keep track of what could easily be a confusing sequence of events, and you have book that is an interesting read from start to finish. It makes for a book that I found enjoyable to read and follow and I'm betting you will as well.

August 2024

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