Obeah, Christ, and Rastaman

Book excerpt: This is a book about an extraordinarily rich and varied culture - a culture in which 'most of the religio-political movements of the world are to be found epitomised in some form'. In tracing the Jamaican people's search for an identity through these movements, this book places the modern cult of Rastafarianism in the broadest of historical contexts. Obeah, Christ and Rastaman reflects the author's careful, scholarly approach, his delight in a fascinating, colourful subject and his deep, humane regard for a people 'who have, over the years, suffered incredible degradation and suppression'.