Highly controversial historical account of the West Indies Raynal, Abbe A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies. [Volume 3] London: T. Cadell, 1777 (Third edition) Translated from the French of Abbe Raynal by J. Justamond, MA. Volume 3 of 4, 8vo (21.5x13.5 cm); 473 pages. Illustrated with folding map of the European settlements in the West Indies by Thomas Kitchin. Bound in full leather, with new leather spine. Five raised bands on the spine. Condition good minus: Boards edgeworn, with some loss. Some leaves reatached, but all present. Page edges age-darkened. Some staining to endpapers. This book was condemned by the French parliament and church because of its attacks on the clergy and on European civilized peoples for their conduct and policies towards the natives in the Indies. Raynal encounters topics including commerce, religion and slavery, all from the perspective of the French Enlightenment. This volume covers the conquest of Paraguay and Chile by the Spanish; the settlement of the Portuguese in the Brazils and their wars there; the settlement of the Europeans in the great archipelago of America, known by the name of the Antilles or Caribbee Islands; and how the Europeans went to Africa to purchase slaves to cultivate the Caribbee islands.