Survival for Service: My Experiences as Governor General of Grenada

In 1978 when Sir Paul Scoon was appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to become the second Governor General of the small, peaceful and independent island of Grenada, there were few people outside the Caribbean who knew much more about the country and its 100,000 inhabitants than as a tourist destination and a major producer of nutmeg, mace and spices. No one could have foreseen that by the time Sir Paul Scoon resigned, he would have worked alongside six Heads of Governments and established an Interim Government in a lead up to elections. Nor could anyone have envisioned that this flourishing democracy with its growing economy would endure a coup d`etat; rule by a Revolutionary Military Council; the death in office of a serving Prime Minister; the execution of a former Prime Minister and 17 of his political supporters and the intervention of the United States under President Ronald Reagan into Grenada`s affairs which brought the region to its most dangerous confrontation since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Two decades have passed since the American forces stormed Grenada`s beaches and guarded the Governor General`s Houses while he and his wife lay on the floor to avoid the hostile fire from members of the Grenadian Army rebels. This was a period of great danger, which Sir Paul Scoon recounts vividly in this story of a life dominated by service to his country and personal survival.