THE STORY OF PORTMORE: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF JAMAICA’S SUNSHINE CITY (USD$39.95)

“A fascinating account of Portmore’s past and present and a large, invaluable slice of Jamaica’s history. Kennedy Reid details the good, the bad and the ugly about  Portmore and does not shy away from recounting recent episodes like the 1978 Green Bay killings and the 2001 Braeton shootings. The book is a testimony to the importance of Portmore to the making of modern Jamaica. It also demonstrates what can be accomplished when funding agencies, historians and publishers join forces to uncover Jamaica’s heritage.”

— Prof. Verene Shepherd, University of the West Indies, Mona

“Thought-provoking… useful to anyone interested in the story of an increasingly significant section of Jamaica…”

— Robert Lalah, The Daily Gleaner, author of Roving with Lalah: Slices of Everyday Jamaican Life

“Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora, academics, non-academics and anyone with even a passing interest in Jamaica, will find The Story of Portmore an extremely useful resource and a great read. Full of information, extremely well written and with an easy-on-the eye layout, the book takes you way back in time, allowing you a fuller context within which to appreciate the Caribbean’s largest dormitory community. I thought I knew a lot about Portmore, i.e. until I read this book .  It is way more than a book … it is an experience.”

— Joan Andrea Hutchinson, Jamaican folklorist and communications consultant

Many Jamaicans think of Portmore as a vast region of mostly flat and saline land south of Ferry, dominated by housing schemes. True, the area did steadily evolve from semi-wilderness, forest, swamp and wild-game habitat into a housing colony for nearly a quarter million people. But the truth about Portmore is vastly more rich, complex and interesting, with a story that covers personalities, events and land usage spanning four action-packed centuries.

With its hundreds of rare photographs, first-person accounts and artifacts, The Story of Portmore is a thoroughly new and engaging history of modern Jamaica – a must for students, history buffs and anyone interested in boosting their knowlege of the island’s fascinating places.