We've got a winner!

Publisher: Ian Randle Publishers, Reviewer: Paul H. Williams

Hands down! The Gleaner Company Limited's Jamaica: 50 Golden Moments 1962-2012 is a winner. Not entirely a clean sweep, but it's a must-have, for only $3,000. A ll roads lead to 7 North Street, Kingston; Sangster's Book Stores; and Ian Randle Publishers, 11 Cunningham Avenue, Kingston 5, where this printed montage of 50 noteworthy moments/events in Jamaica's history from 1962-2012 is available.

However, the foreword says, inter alia, "In confining the contents of this book to 50 events, it is inevitable that we have omitted some memorable moments. It is also likely that some of the events we have selected are not apparently celebratory. We have included them, nonetheless, because they represent milestones or defining moments in the nation's 50-year history."

This 183-page, attractively designed hardcover is actually a collection of Gleaner photographs and minimised reproduction of some of the popular newspaper pages from 1962-2012. They will definitely engender new discussions and re-ignite old debates. "Except in a few instances, the photographs reproduced in this book were originally published by The Gleaner newspaper in initial reports of events," the publishers say.

Together, the photos and the headlines will also jog the memory of those who were around when the select issues and the events were unfolding. A headline on Page 118 says, "Three persons shot at rally". When I saw it, I immediately relived the unspeakable horror that I went through 21 years ago, when a policeman went on his knee and turned his gun towards the section of the National Stadium where I was for the Nelson Mandela Rally. For those who were not around, they will be treated to a peep into Jamaica's social and political history since Independence.

It's principally not a reader's book. Except for the brief foreword and commentaries on the different decades, there isn't much to read. The headlines and pictures tell the stories of the early days of Jamaica's Independence (the Bustamante/Norman Manley era); the tension, drama and ideological 'war' of the Michael Manley/Edward Seaga years, the accomplishment of our beauty queens; the visits of several heads of state and other well-known personalities; the enshrinement of Marcus Garvey; the granting of city status to Montego Bay; Bob Marley's funeral, among others.

The exploits of our athletes, from Beijing to Berlin, to Daegu got special treatment with 18 pages of photos. This section is the most exciting, as it is replete with memorable images of our athletes winning, celebrating, and showing off their medals. A sense of pride it will evoke.

The colourful and well-designed front pages of The Gleaner, The Sunday Gleaner and The Star glorifying the achievements are also reproduced. David Weller, Deon Hemmings, Merlene Ottey, the 1988 bobsled team, other historic Jamaican Olympians, are included in the mix.

The only major shortcoming with this gem is that people who are farsighted might have to pull for their magnifying glasses to read the fine prints of the reproduced newspaper pages. Nevertheless, the publishers "hope that this publication will serve as an easy reference guide to Jamaica's proud defining moments over the last 50 years''.