Former Prime Minister and author, Edward Seaga signs copies of his books for Kent LaCroix (left) and Professor Hugh Wynter at the official launch of his books at the Hilton hotel in New Kingston last Wednesday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

For two hours Wednesday, Edward Seaga revisited one of the most controversial incidents in modern Caribbean history - the 1983 United States-led invasion of Grenada.

Seaga was prime minister of Jamaica at the time, and is one of a handful of Caribbean leaders from that period still alive. He gives his account of the invasion in The Grenada Intervention: The Inside Story, which was launched Wednesday at the Hilton hotel in New Kingston.

Another book by Seaga, Revelations Beyond Political Boundaries, was also released at the event which attracted a full house of family, friends, politicians and educators.

Seaga told The Gleaner that The Grenada Intervention: The Inside Story is an expanded excerpt from his memoirs. It details the rise and fall of prime minister Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement (NJM) on the Spice Isle.

wider perspective

Grenada's former deputy prime Minister, Bernard Coard (right), is escorted by a prison guard upon his arrival at the Grenada Supreme Court for a re-sentencing hearing in St George's, in 2006.

"This period of my life gives me the opportunity to have a wider perspective of events, past and present. As a thinking person I would like to share these with the public," Seaga said.

"The fact that I am a former Prime Minister only speaks to the fact that I had a wider base of material to draw on," he added.

Seaga and Dominican prime minister Eugenia Charles were two of the conservatives in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 1983 when Bishop and seven government officials were overthrown and killed by a faction of the NJM led by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard.

Coard's followers included his Jamaican wife, Phyllis. Initially, they received death sentences which were later commuted to life in prison. Phyllis Coard was freed from prison in 2000 while her husband was released early this month.

unwarranted and illegal

US President Ronald Reagan entering Grenada was seen by some in CARICOM as unwarranted and illegal. At the time, Seaga's Jamaica Labour Party was unpopular at home and there was talk of his using Grenada to boost his sagging poll numbers.

Professor Stephen Vasciannie, head of the Norman Manley Law School at the University of the West Indies, Mona spoke at the launch. He said Seaga's book sheds new light on an event that is understated in Jamaica.

"We don't pay as much attention to it as people in the eastern Caribbean, mainly because many people there had relatives who were killed. But Mr Seaga's book mentions and continues some of the legal arguments and I think these are things Jamaicans should read about," Vasciannie said.

The Grenada Intervention: The Inside Story and Revelations Beyond Political Boundaries, are both produced by the Edward Seaga Research Institute and the University of Technology where the former Prime Minister is a pro-chancellor.

See review of 'Revelations Beyond Political Boundaries' on page F3.