John Cherry and Krysta Ryzewski bring us an extensively illustrated and readable synthesis of the results of archaeological research on Montserrat. The authors explain that although originally conceived as a popular book, it evolved into a more scholarly synthesis of the current state of knowledge about the archaeology of the island. The result is accessible to a wide range of readers interested in archaeology, history, and heritage. The book is written in straightforward language, and the few technical terms used are explained. There is no theoretical discussion to distract from the presentation and interpretation of the data, and the authors keep their focus squarely on Montserrat throughout. One feature is the use of 13 “boxes” with expanded discussions of topics that would otherwise interrupt the flow and focus of the text. The volume is illustrated with 114 figures, most of which are color photographs of the island, sites, and artifacts. Unfortunately, some photographs only occupy approximately one-fifth of the page, which can make it difficult to see details, especially for groups of artifacts. Four attractive, full-page, color maps of the island show the locations mentioned in the text. The book is attractively produced and will appeal visually to the nonspecialist as well as the professional.

The volume is divided into 10 chapters, beginning with an introduction to the island's geography, geology, climate, and environment, which starts with the conditions that have resulted from the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano (which began in July 1995). It continues backward in time to discuss landscapes during the colonial and prehistoric periods. Chapter 2 summarizes the short history of archaeological research on Montserrat. Archaeology proper began in 1964, but it was the late 1970s before research-driven projects began on the island. The volcanic eruption of 1995 ended archaeology in the southern part of the island, but Cherry and Ryzewski began their project in the northern part of the island in 2010, continuing through 2019. Heritage management on the island is also reviewed in this chapter, especially the role of the Montserrat National Trust.

Seven chapters follow that are devoted to different time periods of human activity on Montserrat. The brief Chapter 3 focuses on the earliest evidence for humans on the island over 4,500 years ago. Cherry and Ryzewski conclude that Montserrat was visited at this time but not permanently colonized. Chapter 4 covers colonization by horticulturalists in the Early Ceramic Age, approximately 2,500 years ago, through the Late Ceramic Age, from approximately AD 600 until European contact in the late fifteenth or early/middle sixteenth century. Chapter 5 begins with Columbus's sail-by in 1493 and discusses the absence of archaeological and documentary evidence for Amerindian occupation of Montserrat from that time until the beginning of the seventeenth century. However, there is documentary evidence in the mid-sixteenth century for small-scale European settlement and Amerindian raids from other islands. Archaeological evidence indicates Amerindian occupation in the early seventeenth century before English colonization in 1632.

The next three chapters discuss the colonial period using archaeological and archival sources. Chapter 6 reviews the evidence for the seventeenth-century establishment of the English colony and the growth of the Irish population. The establishment of the sugar industry by 1650 led to the importation of enslaved Africans and the development of sugar estates. Chapter 7, the longest in the book, describes the sugar plantations through to emancipation in 1834. Its focus is on the sugar works and the houses of estate owners and managers, which were primarily stone built and whose ruins survived into the twentieth century. Chapter 8 covers the same time period, but the focus is the 80% of the island's population who were enslaved laborers, their villages, and cemeteries. Chapter 9 reviews the post-emancipation period of the nineteenth century, especially the reuse of the sugar estates by the citrus lime industry and the development of education and schools on the island.

The final chapter examines the impacts of disasters on archaeological and heritage sites. The authors reveal that in addition to the direct impacts of the volcanic eruption, short-sighted development activities in the disaster recovery have also contributed significantly to the destruction of Montserrat's heritage. This chapter will be of particular interest to those involved in heritage management, especially in disaster-prone areas.

Overall, this book is a well-presented synthesis of Montserrat's archaeological past. It makes accessible a great deal of information from unpublished manuscript reports, archival sources, and scattered publications. In places, the volume may lack sufficient detail for some, but this is the trade-off between a detailed academic study and a book aimed at a wider audience. In general, Cherry and Ryzewski have achieved a reasonable balance. Overall, the book will be useful to archaeologists, heritage managers, preservationists, and historians—as well as more general readers—interested in the archaeology of the Caribbean region. The volume will also be of interest to those working on the development of the Atlantic world, given that half of the book is devoted to the period after European contact, and much of it to the period of African enslavement.