Book Review of
Trinidad 1990, The Caribbean’s Islamist Insurrection
Author: Sanjay Badri-Maharaj
Latin America @ War No. 19
Helion & Co. Ltd.
ISBN: 978-1-913118-72-3
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-913118-72-3
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $29.95
HISTORY:
On 27 July 1990, a radical Afro-Trinidadian Islamic group, the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr – an Afro-Trinidadian convert to Islam previously known as Lennox Philip, and former policeman – launched a armed insurrection with 113 of his followers.
Their attack quickly seized the entire leadership of the local government: the then Prime Minister of Trinidad, Arthur N.R. Robinson, most of his cabinet and several opposition Members of Parliament, plus the staff of the government-owned television and radio networks were held hostage for six dramatic days.
The Parliament Building and television and radio studios were occupied during the standoff with security forces that ensued. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service collapsed with the first hour of the insurrection, abandoning the capital city, Port of Spain, and the military took hours to assemble a viable fighting force.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. Is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 66 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ½” page format. Two pages are blank.
The book details the background to the dramatic events of July 1990 as well as the insurrection itself and the military operation that quelled it. It was a coming of age for the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, which without requiring external intervention, contained and then defeated an Islamic uprising.
Trinidad 1990 is illustrated by more than 50 authentic black and white photos from local archives, 3 maps, 12 color profile illustrations of: two of a Trinidad Tobago Defence Force Dingo Scout cars, a Shortlands Armoured Personnel Vehicle, a Jamast soldier, 2 Defence Force soldiers, a Cessna 337 aircraft, a Aerospatiale SA341G/H helicopter and a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.
Also, are 4 photos of buildings, 2 data lists, 20 photos of Trinidad & Tobago troops, a Trinidad & Tobago pilot with his dog, a photograph of civilians, a Trinidad Shortland Armoured Patrol Car and Dingo Scout Car, Trinidad and Tobago ships “Buccoo Reef”, “Barracuda”, C5, C6, C27 and C28, a Trinidad Cessna 337, two photos of a Trinidad Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, a photo of Trinidad & Tobago officers, 3 photos of JAM weapons, 2 street plans, photo of damage and fire created by JAM troops, 7 photos of Imam Abu Bakr, head of JAM, before and after his capture by Trinidad & Tobago troops, 3 photos of JAM soldiers, a Trinidad & Tobago Cessna 310 & Cessna 402 & Gazelle aircrafts.
At the end of the book there is a one page bibliography, 2 pages of NOTES and About the Author:
Sanjay Badri-Maharaj from Trinidad, received his MA and PHD from the Department of War Studies, King's College London. His thesis was on India’s Nuclear Weapons Program. He has written and published extensively, including two books – The Armageddon Factor; Nuclear Weapons in the India-Pakistan Context (2000) and Indian Nuclear Strategy: Confronting the Potential Nuclear Threat from both Pakistan and China (2018).
He has served as a consultant to the Ministry of National Security in Trinidad and was a visiting International Fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, and is also an attorney at law. This is his second instalment for Helion @ War Series.
This book will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. All Helion & Co. Ltd. Book titles can be seen on Casemate’s website at:
On 27 July 1990, a radical Afro-Trinidadian Islamic group, the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr – an Afro-Trinidadian convert to Islam previously known as Lennox Philip, and former policeman – launched a armed insurrection with 113 of his followers.
Their attack quickly seized the entire leadership of the local government: the then Prime Minister of Trinidad, Arthur N.R. Robinson, most of his cabinet and several opposition Members of Parliament, plus the staff of the government-owned television and radio networks were held hostage for six dramatic days.
The Parliament Building and television and radio studios were occupied during the standoff with security forces that ensued. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service collapsed with the first hour of the insurrection, abandoning the capital city, Port of Spain, and the military took hours to assemble a viable fighting force.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. Is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 66 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ½” page format. Two pages are blank.
The book details the background to the dramatic events of July 1990 as well as the insurrection itself and the military operation that quelled it. It was a coming of age for the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, which without requiring external intervention, contained and then defeated an Islamic uprising.
Trinidad 1990 is illustrated by more than 50 authentic black and white photos from local archives, 3 maps, 12 color profile illustrations of: two of a Trinidad Tobago Defence Force Dingo Scout cars, a Shortlands Armoured Personnel Vehicle, a Jamast soldier, 2 Defence Force soldiers, a Cessna 337 aircraft, a Aerospatiale SA341G/H helicopter and a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.
Also, are 4 photos of buildings, 2 data lists, 20 photos of Trinidad & Tobago troops, a Trinidad & Tobago pilot with his dog, a photograph of civilians, a Trinidad Shortland Armoured Patrol Car and Dingo Scout Car, Trinidad and Tobago ships “Buccoo Reef”, “Barracuda”, C5, C6, C27 and C28, a Trinidad Cessna 337, two photos of a Trinidad Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, a photo of Trinidad & Tobago officers, 3 photos of JAM weapons, 2 street plans, photo of damage and fire created by JAM troops, 7 photos of Imam Abu Bakr, head of JAM, before and after his capture by Trinidad & Tobago troops, 3 photos of JAM soldiers, a Trinidad & Tobago Cessna 310 & Cessna 402 & Gazelle aircrafts.
At the end of the book there is a one page bibliography, 2 pages of NOTES and About the Author:
Sanjay Badri-Maharaj from Trinidad, received his MA and PHD from the Department of War Studies, King's College London. His thesis was on India’s Nuclear Weapons Program. He has written and published extensively, including two books – The Armageddon Factor; Nuclear Weapons in the India-Pakistan Context (2000) and Indian Nuclear Strategy: Confronting the Potential Nuclear Threat from both Pakistan and China (2018).
He has served as a consultant to the Ministry of National Security in Trinidad and was a visiting International Fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, and is also an attorney at law. This is his second instalment for Helion @ War Series.
This book will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. All Helion & Co. Ltd. Book titles can be seen on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.