Dark Laboratory

From past to present and island to island, with wisdom and lyricism, Tao Leigh Goffe shows that we cannot honestly reckon with the global climate crisis without acknowledging its roots in the cultural, social, and ecological upheavals first inflicted on the so-called New World and its peoples in 1492—and for centuries thereafter. Yet from this darkness, she offers light

Jack E. Davis, author of 'The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea'

An urgent exploration of race, climate, and the devastating colonial experimentation with human lives and the natural world. It explodes conventional thinking about the crushing effects of profit-mongering, then unexpectedly, leads us back to sources of original power and ways of knowing who we are. Tao Leigh Goffe is a courageous, big-picture thinker who leaves no leaf unturned

Gretel Ehrlich, author of 'The Solace of Open Spaces'

Dark Laboratory does the gargantuan, soulful work for slowing down the velocity, scope and impact of American and European exploitation of the Caribbean. The book doesn't simply bend; it actually deftly obliterates most of what I thought I knew about the Caribbean’s utility to Western wealth. The book is just so good, and absolutely foundational to understanding the conundrum of raced experimentation and mining in the West

Kiese Laymon, author of 'Heavy: An American Memoir'

Dark Laboratory takes readers by the hand and guides them from mountain tops to coral reefs, from Jamaica to China, from the story of one family to that of our planet, from the pasts that have made us to a future we can still imagine. At once expansive and intimate, this is an ambitious, genre-busting, and beautiful book. It is a must-read

Ada Ferrer, author of 'Cuba: An American History'

A timely and refreshingly provocative study . . . [Goffe] proves to be an engaging scholar, and her work will go far in reshaping academic approaches to her most interesting subject matter . . . [Dark Laboratory] leaves the reader with something to ponder

Kirkus

A powerful and multifaceted exploration of the Caribbean, challenging conventional narratives that often romanticize the region as a paradise untouched by the forces of exploitation

Amsterdam News

Stunning, brilliant and transformative. With a vast archive and a mighty pen, Goffe tells the story of modernity and it discontents through the land, legacy, and people of the Caribbean. Upon reading this book, you will have a new understanding of the world

Imani Pery, author of 'Prophets of the Hood'

A necessary, much needed cri de coeur, a thoroughly compelling book about the climate crisis and the Caribbean region. Dark Laboratory is utterly unique to read; it is punch the air, punch in the gut, heart palpitations thrilling. Goffe isn't just a scholar of the current climate emergency but a poet and a feminist who joins the dots . . . Every page is mixed with heart and conviction. Mandatory reading on climate and the Caribbean region

Monique Roffey, author of 'The Mermaid of Black Conch'

Hugely important . . . A truly illuminating book that joins the dots on the ideologies and realities that underpin our world, written with clarity, passion, insight and a frequently beautiful poetic turn of phrase. Essential reading for anyone with a curiosity over the true shape of global structures, and the intersections of identity, colonialism, capitalism and the climate crisis

Jeffrey Boakye, author of 'Black, Listed'

Goffe offers a compelling treatise for our time . . . This is a book that will expand the conventional wisdoms and vocabularies and reset our imaginary. It journeys across a vast territory of mobilities and ecologies, engaging with a range of indigenous knowledges in a stimulating and at times personal post-colonial account that communicates joy and optimism

Charlotte Williams, author of 'Sugar and Slate'

Sweeping and sacred, Dark Laboratory stands as a singular text, leading readers through the dense layers of racial and colonial sedimentation that shape our present while radically reimagining a livable future on our rapidly warming planet

Ruha Benjamin, author of 'Race After Technology'

In this roving, erudite debut study, Goffe . . . traces the attitudes and beliefs that undergird today’s climate crisis back to the racist, extractive systems of thought developed by European colonizers in previous centuries . . . scintillating . . . bursts with keen insights and connections

Publishers Weekly *starred review*

[Goffe] calls readers to rethink their relationships to environments, to rethink the idea of ownership and belonging, and so also rethink the idea of climate justice for everyone . . . compelling

Shelf Awareness

Nimble and prophesying, truthful and rigorous, Professor Tao Leigh Goffe roots the climate crisis to its true origins - the exploitation of people of colour - without hyperbole or lambast. This is the way it is. In having the knowledge, determination and simple intent to go where others have not, Dark Laboratory is a benchmark, both for experts within the climate struggle, and those wishing to know more. A vital, compelling and nuanced addition to the most pressing debate of modern times

Courttia Newland, author of 'A River Called Time'

This timely book illuminates the connections between colonization and climate change by providing poignant real-world examples which expose the historically illiterate thinking of powerful nations on this topic

Corinne Fowler, author of 'Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain'

A work of searching curiosity and intelligence that traces the connections between colonial power, racial violence and the perilous state of our planet today, while also sketching a path to a more liveable, less unequal future. It is a necessary book and an important one

Ekow Eshun, author of 'The Strangers: Five Extraordinary Black Men and the Worlds That Made Them'

A fantastic, galvanising read. A clarion call on climate issues through a Caribbean lens

 Irenosen Okojie, author of 'Nudibranch'

An illuminating and vital redress of the climate crisis . . . I’m desperately glad that scholars like Tao are doing this crucial work

Paula Akpan, author of 'When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors'

The lens on climate change I have been wanting to see through. Goffe’s pertinent and compelling study reveals the field of natural history’s entanglement with the Caribbean region, and the lasting effects of this extraction on environment and people. Dark Laboratory expertly connects our present climate crisis with colonial capitalism in the Caribbean.

Dr. Zakiya Mckenzie, author of 'Testimonies on the History of Jamaica Vol. 1'

As well as being a very important addition to the dialogue on slavery and reparations, this is a very enlightening new look at climate change . . . Presenting the Dark Laboratory wherein the effects of the resulting changes of climate, race and technology are studied, Tao Leigh Goffe invites us to save the planet from the climate crisis by divesting from the economies that have caused it and were designed to kill us, advising that we must question our Western assumptions and chart new strategies for how to live after climate crisis

Barbara Blake Hannah, author of 'Growing Out: Black Hair and Black Pride in the Swinging 60s'