If the Irish Ran the World

This book tells the story of the Irish migrants who settled on the island of Montserrat from the early seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth century. Through a masterful combination of different sources, Akenson reconstructs the colonial world of the Irish, and their ambitions to become rulers and no longer ruled within the lucrative and unruly context of the Caribbean.

Akenson’s book opened my eyes to the small island of Montserrat and the Irish colony that became the setting of my first novel, Sharavogue. Mostly overlooked by the English, the island became a haven for Irish settlers who established sugar and tobacco plantations. In addition to descriptions of the location and industry, this book explores whether the Irish, given the opportunity to control an empire, would be more humane than the English.