In October 1983 the US president Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of the small Caribbean island of Grenada. The island was being governed by the socialist New Jewel Movement who had taken control away from the brutal dictator Eric Gairy in a bloodless coup four and a half years earlier. The invasion, illegal under international law, was condemned by the United Nations Assembly with a vote of 109 to 9. This article looks back on the events surrounding the invasion which took place 40 years ago.