"A History of Belize, Nation in the Making traces the history of our country. It focusses [sic] on how we became what we are today. it travels through time and gives us the opportunity to study the complex society which we have inherited. History is never complete for we create history each day. The people, places and events presented in this book show us how important history is to a nation. We cannot move constructively into the future unless we understand the past and benefit from that knowledge. This book helps us to do just that.''--p. 4 of cover.

"The British government, while upholding the right of the settlers to live and work there, never challenged the sovereignty of Spain over the territory, and indeed recognised it in two eighteenth century treaties. But they refused to accept later Guatemalan and Mexican claims to inheritance of Spanish sovereignty. The consequences of the former dispute live on today." "This book traces the outline of this complex story in as objective a way as possible, allowing the facts recorded in files in London and Belize to speak for themselves."--Cover.

The social history of Belize is marked by conflict; between British settlers and the Maya; between masters and slaves; between capitalists and workers; and between the colonial administration and the Belizean people. This collection of essays, analyzes the most import topics during three centuries of colonialism.