If you’re planning a Bahamas getaway, this guide gets you in the know and in the mood. You’ll practically feel the sand between your toes and the sea breeze brushing your face. Find out about hot spots, like the well-touristed Nassau, Paradise Island, and Freeport/Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island, and less-visited islands like the Exumas and Abacos that are perfect if you want serious R & R. This guide covers: An overview of Bahamian customs, music, festivals, cuisine, and “thirst-busters” Accommodations ranging from simple Bahamian inns and guesthouses to mega-resorts, and from quaint gingerbread villas to a spectacular beach resort with a kids’ camp The best places for all kinds of water sports, including water skiing, banana boat rides, Jet-Skiing, sailing, and parasailing Snorkeling and scuba diving, including dramatic reef trips, shark dives, shipwreck dives, and even night dives Fishing for wahoo, blue marlin, oceanic bonito, blackfin tuna, snapper, grouper, barracuda, dolphins, and more Great places to stay and play if tennis or golf is your game Gambling at glamorous casinos and taking in great stage shows Shopping for international imports of china, perfume, crystal, gemstones, or watches A calendar of events including festivals, tournaments, and local holidays Like every For Dummies travel guide, Bahamas For Dummies, 4th Edition includes: Down-to-earth trip-planning advice What you shouldn’t miss — and what you can skip The best hotels and restaurants for every budget Handy Post-it Flags to mark your favorite pages Whether you’re honeymooning or bringing the kids…whether you want to be an adventurous underwater explorer or a contented beach potato…this guide will help you enjoy the many sites and moods of the Bahamas.

In l967, when Georgene Dreishpoon and her husband Irving read a National Geographic article about the Bahamas, a mental seed was planted that would sprout seven years later when they embarked on an unforgettable and magical ferry ride to the island of Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas. In her fascinating memoir, Pursuit of Paradise, Dreishpoon shares her experiences as a member of an American family who sought a fishing retreat in the Bahamas and, in the process, discovered lifelong friendships and ultimately faced the fact that even in paradise, the realities of life lurk in the background. For sixty days a year, the Dreishpoons left their life in America and lived on an island that captured their imaginations and their souls. Through entertaining anecdotes, Dreishpoon provides a glimpse into how her family immersed themselves in a new culture, learned to communicate with local inhabitants, and acquired a taste for new food—all while cherishing their time together as they experienced a new adventure. Pursuit of Paradise chronicles nearly twenty-five years of amazing stories of one family’s extraordinary experiences on a beautiful Bahamian island that affected their philosophy of living and loving forever.

The Rough Guides series contain full color photos, three maps in one, and arewaterproof and tearproof. They contain thousands of keyed listings and brightnew graphics.

The present work concludes the important and monumental undertaking of Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People, creating the most thorough and comprehensive history yet written of a Caribbean country and its people. In the first volume Michael Craton and Gail Saunders traced the developments of a unique archipelagic nation from aboriginal times to the period just before emancipation. This long-awaited second volume offers a description and interpretation of the social developments of the Bahamas in the years from 1830 to the present. Volume Two divides this period into three chronological sections, dealing first with adjustments to emancipation by former masters and former slaves between 1834 and 1900, followed by a study of the slow process of modernization between 1900 and 1973 that combines a systematic study of the stimulus of social change, a candid examination of current problems, and a penetrating but sympathetic analysis of what makes the Bahamas and Bahamians distinctive in the world. This work is an eminent product of the New Social History, intended for Bahamians, others interested in the Bahamas, and scholars alike. It skillfully interweaves generalizations and regional comparisons with particular examples, drawn from travelers' accounts, autobiographies, private letters, and the imaginative reconstruction of official dispatches and newspaper reports. Lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs and original maps, it stands as a model for forthcoming histories of similar small ex-colonial nations in the region.

Supporters of the British Crown found life in the Colonies rigorous in the years prior to, during, and after the Revolutionary War. The hazards of war and the inequities of peace forced many American Loyalists into Bahamian exile.