CONTENTSRECOMMENDATIONS PREFACEINTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1-25EPILOGUEABOUT THE AUTHORAn unconventional and engaging take on Caribbean history.An unconventional and engaging take on Caribbean history.The Caribbean reads like a novel, providing us with a rollicking narrative and a rich brew of colorful facts.After a life-changing diagnosis, Dutch entrepreneur Jacob Gelt Dekker decides to take a step into the unknown. Setting sail from his home in Key West, he embarks on an odyssey around the Caribbean islands, navigating treacherous waters and nations forever shaped by the Age of Discovery and transatlantic slave trade. Soon he discovers that he is not alone on his boat. With him during the long days and nights at sea are Anansi the Spider, the West African trickster, and The Flying Dutchman, doomed to sail the oceans forever and harboring a terrible secret.Together, this unlikely trio seeks to establish the truth about the history of the Caribbean. Along the way, they encounter famous pirates and unpick tales of untold riches, but also retrace the steps of the region’s slaves, finding out how events in Europe, the fledgling American colonies, and Africa sealed their fates. Informed by personal experience and the people he meets on the islands, Jacob Gelt Dekker offers an unconventional account that is key to understanding the Caribbean and its peoples today."A journey on a sailing-ship along the Caribbean Islands becomes a lucid experience through cultural history. In his erudite and eloquent log with a great sense of humour, skipper Jacob Gelt Dekker, accompanied by an imaginary crew, takes us with him over the high waves of sea-battles and slavery to beautiful places on palmy coastlines where locals peacefully prepare their typical food. A most remarkable chronicle!" - Hannedea van Nederveen Meerkerk, CEO MoWIC Foundation“Never give up”. If anything typifies Jacob Gelt Dekker, it is his own adagio. I have met many people in many countries but nobody as impressive as Jacob. A most unusual man with a truly remarkable -if not unique- life history, defying an incredible amount of odds thanks to his intelligence, perseverance, creativity and willingness to travel uncharted waters. This book testifies to all that. He is also a noted philanthropist and a most valiant heart. The Fulbright center in Amsterdam is blessed with a patron like him." - Rudolf Bekink, former Dutch Ambassador to the United States