In this masterpiece of travel writing first published in 1962 V. S. Naipaulreturned to Trinidad his country of origin and explored four adjacentsocieties.Naipau... » 

In this masterpiece of travel writing first published in 1962 V. S. Naipaulreturned to Trinidad his country of origin and explored four adjacentsocieties.Naipaul ventures into a Trinidad slum so insalubrious that the locals call itthe Gaza Strip. He follows a racially charged election campaign in BritishGuiana now Guyana and marvels at the Gallic pretension of Martinique societywhich maintains the fiction that its roads are extensions of Frances routesnationales. He relates the ghastly episodes of the regions colonial past andshows how they continue to inform its language politics and values. Theresult is a work of novelistic vividness and dazzling perspicacity thatdisplays Naipaul at the peak of his powers. «