"On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions in Kingston, seven unnamed gunmen stormed the singer's house, machine guns blazing. The attack wounded Marley, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Little was officially released about the gunmen, but rumors abounded regarding the assassins' fates. A Brief History of Seven...

Details the most famous aspects of Jamaica, the music and its culture, as well as the Island's history, including the slave trade operated by Britain. Since independence in 1962, Jamaica has acquired a twin image as a resort-style travel Eden and as a new kind of Hell, presided over by drug lords. In seeking to answer the question of what lies between, the author talked with Jamaicans who are trying to make a difference: writers, priests, and musicians....