Slavery, enslaved persons and abolition of slavery Books

Book SynopsisAbducted from Africa, sold in America.A deeply affecting record of an extraordinary life- Daily TelegraphA major literary event: a newly published work from the author of the American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, with a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker.The true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade.In August 1931, famed anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston travelled to Alabama to visit ninety-year-old Cudjo Lewis, a former slave.Over three months, Cudjo shared heart-rending memories of his childhood in Africa; the horrors of being captured fifty years after slavery was outlawed and held in the Ouidah barracoons for selection by American slavers; the harrowing ordeal of the Middle Passage aboard the Clotilda with over one hundred other souls; and the years he spent in slavery.Barracoon brings to life Cudjo's singular voice in an invaluable contribution to history and culture, a work as poignant as it is profound.Trade Review“That Zora Neale Hurston should find and befriend Cudjo Lewis, the last living man with firsthand memory of capture in Africa and captivity in Alabama, is nothing shy of a miracle. Barracoon is a testament to the enormous losses millions of men, women and children endured in both slavery and freedom—a story of urgent relevance to every American, everywhere.” Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Life on Mars and Wade in the Water “Zora Neale Hurston’s genius has once again produced a Maestrapiece.” Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple “Barracoon is a powerful, breathtakingly beautiful, and at times, heart wrenching, account of one man’s story, eloquently told in his own language. Zora Neale Hurston gives Kossola control of his narrative— a gift of freedom and humanity. It completely reinforces for me the fact that Zora Neale Hurston was both a cultural anthropologist and a truly gifted, and compassionate storyteller, who sat in the sometimes painful silence with Kossola and the depth and breadth of memory as a slave. Such is a narrative filled with emotions and histories bursting at the intricately woven seams.” Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun “A searing reminder of how recently American slavery ended, and the depth of the pain it caused.” The Economist “A deeply affecting record of an extraordinary life.” Daily Telegraph “Barracoon and its long path to print is a testament to Zora’s singular vision amid so many competing pressures that continue to put us at war with ourselves.” Huffington Post Books of the Year – The Economist Best Books of 2018 – New York Public Library Best Books of 2018 – NPR Best Books of 2018 – SELF.com Best Non-Fiction Books of 2018 – TIME

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Book SynopsisPatterson discusses the internal dynamics of slavery in 66 societies over time. These include Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, China, Korea, the Islamic kingdoms, Africa, the Caribbean islands, and the American South. Slavery, he argues, is a single process of recruitment, incorporation on the margin of society, and eventual manumission or death.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Cinematic and deeply engaging. . . . a tour de force of storytelling.” -- Brent Staples * The New York Times Book Review *"Absorbing and even moving . . . Mr. Blight displays his lifelong interest in Douglass on almost every page, and his own voice is active and eloquent throughout the narrative. It is a book that speaks to our own time as well as Douglass’s. . . . A brilliant book.” -- John Stauffer * The Wall Street Journal *“The first major biography of Douglass in nearly three decades. . . . Blight isn’t looking to overturn our understanding of Douglass, whose courage and achievements were unequivocal, but to complicate it — a measure by which this ambitious and empathetic biography resoundingly succeeds.” -- Jennifer Szalai * The New York Times *“Extraordinary. . . . Blight has certainly written, in the book’s texture and density and narrative flow—one violent and provocative incident arriving right after another—a great American biography." -- Adam Gopnik * The New Yorker *“A consistently engrossing book that is likely to remain the definitive account of Douglass’s life for many years to come.” -- Eric Foner * The Nation *“A stunning achievement. Blight captures an icon in full humanity. From riveting drama in slavery and Civil War, his Douglass rises into clairvoyant genius on the blinkered centrality of race in our struggle for freedom.” -- Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of America in the King Years“Extraordinary. . . . In Blight’s pages, [Douglass’s] voice again rings out loud and clear, melancholy and triumphant — still prophesying, still agitating, still calling us to action.” -- Adam Goodheart * The Washington Post *“David Blight has written the definitive biography of Frederick Douglass. With extraordinary detail he illuminates the complexities of Douglass’s life and career and paints a powerful portrait of one of the most important American voices of the 19th century. . . . Magisterial.” -- Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. * The Boston Globe *

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Book SynopsisIn this ground-breaking work, Paul Gilroy proposes that the modern black experience can not be defined solely as African, American, Carribean or British alone, but can only be understand as a Black Atlantic culture that transcends ethnicity or nationality. This culture is thorough modern and, often, overlooked but can deeply enriches our understanding of what it means to be modern.This condition comes out of historical transoceanic experience, established first with the slave trade but later seen in the development of a transatlantic culture. And Gilroy takes us on a tour of the music that, for centuries, has transmitted racial messages and feeling around the world, from the Jubilee Singers in the nineteenth century to Jimi Hendrix to rap. He also explores this internationalism as it is manifested in black writing from the "double consciousness" of W. E. B. Du Bois to the "double vision" of Richard Wright to the compelling voice of Toni Morrison. As a consequence, Black Atlantic charts the formation of a nationalism, if not a nation, within this shared, disasporic culture.Trade ReviewPaul Gilroy is one the most incisive thinkers of his generation...One can only hope that his voice travels far and wide. * Independent *In debates in recent years around questions of race, nation and culture, Paul Gilroy has stood out as an independent, unorthodox and (often for that very reason) exciting new voice. * Times Higher Educational Supplement *Whilst others scarcely put a toe in the water, in The Black Atlantic Gilroy goes in deep and returns with riches. * Guardian *At that moment, in US scholarship, the emphasis was still on minimising the role of the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the making of capitalism. So to have the Black Atlantic argue so powerfully for its constitutive role in the making of modernity was really important. -- Saidiya HartmanIt was in this book that Gilroy laid out his concept of the 'black Atlantic', the idea that black culture is essentially a hybrid, a product of centuries of exchange, slavery and movement across the Atlantic. Exploring everything from the lives and work of African American philosophers such as WEB Du Bios, to black popular music, Gilroy demonstrates that black culture is both 'local' and 'global', and cannot be constrained within any single national culture. It flows across the black Atlantic of the book's title. The influence of Gilroy's work can be felt not only in modern scholarship but even in the work of the visual artist John Akomfrah. -- David OlusogaThe Black Atlantic, still his most influential work, used the writings of enslaved people and their descendants to demonstrate their centrality to the making of the modern world. * Guardian *He's the foremost intellectual in the United Kingdom: not an if, not a but, not a maybe -- Steve McQueen

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Book SynopsisHarvard has had a close relationship with slavery. This report details Black enslavement on campus, financial benefits the institution derived from slavery, the leading roles of Harvard faculty and graduates in eugenics, and centuries of discrimination at the university—as well as the resistance these activities inspired on campus and beyond.

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Book SynopsisA thought-provoking and important book that raises essential issues crucial not only for understanding our past but also the present day.In this panoramic history, Jeremy Black tells how slavery was first developed in the ancient world, and reaches all the way to the present in the form of contemporary crimes such as trafficking and bonded labour. He shows how slavery has taken many forms throughout history and across the world - from the uprising of Spartacus, the plantations of the West Indies, and the murderous forced labour of the gulags and concentration camps.Slavery helped to consolidate transoceanic empires and helped mould new world societies such as America and Brazil. Black charts the long fight for abolition in the nineteenth century, looking at both the campaigners as well as the harrowing accounts of the enslaved themselves.Slavery is still with us today, and coerced labour can be found closer to home than one might expect.Trade ReviewA truly horrifying account of human cruelty. * Catholic Herald *A thought-provoking and important book that raises essential issues crucial not only for our past but also the present day. * Spartacus Review *

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Book SynopsisThe definitive modern biography of the great slave leader, military genius and revolutionary hero Toussaint LouvertureThe Haitian Revolution began in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue with a slave revolt in August 1791, and culminated a dozen years later in the proclamation of the world''s first independent black state. After the abolition of slavery in 1793, Toussaint Louverture, himself a former slave, became the leader of the colony''s black population, the commander of its republican army and eventually its governor. During the course of his extraordinary life he confronted some of the dominant forces of his age - slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism and racial hierarchy. Treacherously seized by Napoleon''s invading army in 1802, this charismatic figure ended his days, in Wordsworth''s phrase, ''the most unhappy man of men'', imprisoned in a fortress in France.Black Spartacus draws on a wealth of archival material, much of it overlooked by previous biographers, to follow every step of Louverture''s singular journey, from his triumphs against French, Spanish and British troops to his skilful regional diplomacy, his Machiavellian dealings with successive French colonial administrators and his bold promulgation of an autonomous Constitution. Sudhir Hazareesingh shows that Louverture developed his unique vision and leadership not solely in response to imported Enlightenment ideals and revolutionary events in Europe and the Americas, but through a hybrid heritage of fraternal slave organisations, Caribbean mysticism and African political traditions. Above all, Hazareesingh retrieves Louverture''s rousing voice and force of personality, making this the most engaging, as well as the most complete, biography to date.After his death in the French fortress, Louverture became a figure of legend, a beacon for slaves across the Atlantic and for generations of European republicans and progressive figures in the Americas. He inspired the anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass, the most eminent nineteenth-century African-American; his emancipatory struggle was hailed by those who defied imperial and colonial rule well into the twentieth. In the modern era, his life informed the French poet Aimé Césaire''s seminal idea of négritude and has been celebrated in a remarkable range of plays, songs, novels and statues. Here, in all its drama, is the epic story of the world''s first black superhero.Trade ReviewThe art of biography lies in using a life story to bring a historical moment, as well as the society and culture that shaped it, alive and to make it legible. And in this, Hazareesingh succeeds admirably ... beautifully written and deeply engag­ing, connecting the many remarkable writings by and about Louverture in a symphonic narrative -- Laurent Dubois * American Historical Review *This is an erudite and elegant biography with a message that resonates strongly in our own time -- David Cannadineremarkable ... the sharpest portrait yet of Louverture ... Black Spartacus is a triumph. It takes a nearly impossibly complex history and weaves it into a compelling and accurate narrative that reads like fiction. -- Ben Horowitz * Financial Times *Black Spartacus is a tour de force: by far the most complete, authoritative and persuasive biography of Toussaint that we are likely to have for a long time...an extraordinarily gripping read. -- David A Bell * Guardian *There is no better literary contribution to the year of Black Lives Matter than Sudhir Hazareesingh's Black Spartacus, an authoritative biography of Toussaint Louverture, who led the successful "slave revolt" in Haiti and paved the way for Haitian independence. -- Vince Cable * New Statesman Books of the Year *an outstanding biography that breaks fresh ground and scrapes the crust of folklore, and cliché, from the Toussaint story ... scrupulous and absorbing ... After the summer of 2020, there could hardly be a more urgent and valuable book. -- Boyd Tonkin * Arts Desk *This thrilling, magisterial, superb biography, full of new material, tells the extraordinary swashbuckling, bloodspattered, inspirational life of Toussaint, brilliant leader of the Haitian slave revolt against France -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * Evening Standard *Lustrous pearls ... scattered throughout Black Spartacus, turn this detailed, blow-by-blow account of Toussaint's military exploits into a dazzling, complicated narrative ... a breath-taking picture of the decade of Toussaint's dream -- Amy Wilentz * Spectator *Sudhir Hazareesingh's engrossing new life is the story of an island as well as a man ... Hazareesingh brings to the task a voracious appetite for original sources and a discerning ear for those that have the ring of truth. He also has a gift for tracing those threads that reveal a previously unrecognised pattern in the fabric of a life. -- Nathan Perl-Rosenthal * Wall Street Journal *With Black Spartacus, Sudhir Hazareesingh has produced the fourth - and best - biography of Toussaint Louverture since the bicentenary of Haitian independence ... The book deftly tackles the early stages of the slave uprising and gives one of the most convincing accounts yet of Toussaint's likely role in its opening moves. -- Paul Clammer * History Today *This superb new history of Louverture and his legacy portrays Saint-Domingue as the most profitable slave colony the world had ever known ... with rare narrative verve, Hazareesingh conjures his subject's extraordinary life. -- Ian Thomson * The Observer *This is a balanced, yet sympathetic, biography which throws light on Toussaint's personality and acknowledges the importance of his political ideals ... Toussaint is now a global figure, a byword for Black empowerment, and as such he has become a hero for our times. -- Alan Forrest * Times Literary Supplement *Hazareesingh presents a deeply researched, energetic, and comprehensively reenvisioned study of the extraordinary life and still-growing influence of Haiti's liberator and founding father. -- Donna Seaman * Booklist *a timely study of Toussaint Louverture, hero of Haiti's slave revolt -- Clive Davis * The Times *This timely biography digs deeper into archival material to reveal Louverture's uniquely modern views. * Evening Standard *engaging ... a vivid portrait of a complex, captivating and sometimes contradictory leader. -- Carrie Gibson * Prospect *Based on meticulous research in the French archives, Hazareesingh's scholarship deserves the highest praise. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Sudhir Hazareesingh's remarkable book is a sparkling example of the role history can play in society today and, in particular, the importance of shining a light on the often-overlooked experiences of the past. -- Paul RamsbottomSudhir Hazareesingh's account of what he dubs the "epic life" of Toussaint Louverture provides a meticulous biography of his subject and, at the same time, a comprehensive new introduction to the Haitian Revolution ... Black Spartacus is compellingly written and presents its rich source material, both historiographic and archival, with a welcome lightness of touch. ... the definitive English-language life of Louverture -- Charles Forsdick * Jacobin *Sudhir Hazareesingh's stellar, deeply engrossing Black Spartacus still thrums with great potential for our contemporary moment. [Toussaint] shines incandescent in Hazareesingh's tour de force, which has brought an immense amount of new material into the general public domain. The distinguished author, who is a fellow at Oxford's Balliol College, previously specialized in French intellectual and cultural history, and admits in his acknowledgements that he had "never ventured into the history of French colonialism in the Caribbean." But there's also an intriguing biographical element- his roots in the Indian ocean island of Mauritius - that has worked rather serendipitously. As far as this reader is concerned, it's that perspective which has wound up yielding the most original and penetrating insights in Black Spartacus. -- Vivek Menezes * Hindustan Times *This book weaves all these threads into a compelling narrative. Reality trumps fiction on every page. -- Francis Ghiles * ES Global *

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Book Synopsis*** Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize*** In 1903 a Brahmin woman sailed from India to Guyana as a 'coolie', the name the British gave to the million indentured labourers they recruited for sugar plantations worldwide after slavery ended. The woman, who claimed no husband, was pregnant and travelling alone. A century later, her great-granddaughter embarks on a journey into the past, hoping to solve a mystery: what made her leave her country? And had she also left behind a man? Gaiutra Bahadur, an American journalist, pursues traces of her great-grandmother over three continents. She also excavates the repressed history of some quarter of a million female coolies. Disparaged as fallen, many were runaways, widows or outcasts, and many migrated alone. Coolie Woman chronicles their epic passage from Calcutta to the Caribbean, from departures akin either to kidnap or escape, through sea voyages rife with sexploitation, to new worlds where women were in short supply. When they exercised the power this gave them, some fell victim to the machete, in brutal attacks, often fatal, by men whom they spurned. Sex with overseers both empowered and imperiled other women, in equal measure.It also precipitated uprisings, as a struggle between Indian men and their women intersected with one between coolies and their overlords.Trade Review'With Coolie Woman, Bahadur lifts the veil of anonymity. She combines her journalistic eye for detail and story-telling gifts with probing questions, relentlessly pursuing leads to create a haunting portrait of the life of a subaltern. 'Can the subaltern speak?' the theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak had asked rhetorically. Yes, she can. Through the story of Sheojari, Bahadur shows how.' * The Independent *'Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture is a genealogical page-turner interwoven with a compelling, radical history of empire told from the perspective of indentured women. The collective voice of the jehaji behen (ship sisters) has been barely audible across the centuries, until now ... Bahadur grants us rare imaginative access to the odyssey through the experience of women's stories she finds in the archives.' * The Guardian *'Gaiutra Bahadur has produced an intricate, thoroughly researched and beautifully written book that evokes the experience of emigrant Indians and their descendants.' * Times Literary Supplement *'In her remarkable book, Gaiutra Bahadur chronicles the extraordinary but neglected saga of indentured labour that evolved when the British began to replace slavery on their sugar plantations worldwide. But the book is more than this: it is also a highly personal account that traces the history of the author s maternal line to the present day. As Bahadur clambers down the generations, she provides the reader with a meticulous and lushly detailed family memoir. ...This is a fascinating story, which will have resonance for millions of others who are swept up and transformed by history and have to find a new way to create 'home'.' * Literary Review *' …an epic and remarkably revealing account of love, intrigue, betrayal, and murder on the sugar plantations … Bahadur has shed unexpected light on the origins of sexual violence in many a dislocated community.' * The Philadelphia Inquirer *'In this fine book, Gaiutra Bahadur probes the hidden world of these indentured women. … Bahadur' s research (conducted in Guyana, India, and the United Kingdom) is deep and meticulous in both primary and secondary literature, and the story is told with the novelist's practiced eye for the telling detail. Good history here is a good read as well. And along the way, we catch glimpses of the sordid world of servitude and suffering on the colonial plantations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries across the world.' * The Journal of Asian Studies *'An astonishing document… both a historical rescue mission and a profound meditation on family and womanhood, Bahadur's Coolie Woman spans continents and centuries, the private and national, to bring to light the extraordinary lives of the author's great-grandmother and the other quarter of a million kuli women that came to the New World as indentured laborers. Bahadur's meticulous research and tireless perseverance have restored an important chapter in our histories — outstanding work.' * Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This Is How You Lose Her *'I thought I knew something about slavery and forced labour, having written two books on the subject. And I thought I knew something about immigration to the New World. But Gaiutra Bahadur's book made me realise how the experience of a whole generation of women like her great-grandmother profoundly challenges the various stereotypes we have. This is a highly original combination of careful scholarship and well-told personal journey.' * Adam Hochschild, author of Bury the Chains: the British Struggle to Abolish Slavery *'With the exhilarating meticulousness of a period film, Coolie Woman recreates a vanished world and casts a personal searchlight on the saga of indenture. Gaiutra Bahadur rescues her great-grandmother Sujaria and other 'coolie' women from the archives by means of a narrative that is both scholarly and soulful. In detailing the bitter journeys of her forebears, in making their astonishing experiences real and sympathetic, and in registering the complexities of their lives -- not least the extent to which they made choices where one might have expected helplessness -- Bahadur honours their memories and shows herself their worthy descendant.' * Teju Cole, author of Open City *'Coolie Woman is an important, unmissable account. From colonialism to labour in India, immigrant narratives to the hidden lives of women, Ms Bahadur excavates a rich and unforgettable set of stories that will permanently change our view of the past.' * Business Standard *'At one level this is a family history, as the author…searches for her roots. At a deeper level, it explores the social history of indentured labour and the imperial policies by which it was governed… It is a colourful story, well told.' * Asian Affairs *'…a moving, foundational book, investigating the experience of indentured Indian women in the Caribbean. It is solidly researched and as such it reveals the difficulty of understanding the human lives concealed within documents. Bahadur delicately reconstructs these women's lives, seen only through a glass darkly, piecing them together with respect and even admiration. This is a book that will both be of great use to scholars and a compelling text for non-specialists.' * Women's Review of Books *'Bahadur's passion shines through … Its real success is to balance Bahadur's personal tale of discovery with the broader story of the 250,000 other “coolie women” who fled sometimes tricky personal circumstances in India only to find their new lives were another battle for survival.' * The National *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book' Sathnam SangheraBy thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.'In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.Travelling to the world's earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are.Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play women included in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present.Trade Review‘This is an impressive, breathtaking and thought-provoking book which unwraps the concept and history of patriarchy with clear intellectual precision’ Financial Times ‘An urgent and necessary wake-up call of a book, teeming with research without being taut . . . The Patriarchs is a hopeful, essential read, not just for feminists, but for anyone with a stake in existence’ Irish Times ‘I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book. And for such a serious topic, I was surprised to be greatly entertained too. Angela is the best possible guide’ Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland ‘The Patriarchs is an optimistic book, therefore. Not least, it shows that more equal societies are possible and do thrive – historically, now and everywhere. Seeing things from other cultural perspectives really does reveal the way we live in a very different light’ Guardian ‘A rigorous and illuminating read’ inews ‘A deep and incisive look at the historical origins of patriarchal structures we are still fighting today. A must-read for every feminist’ Rafia Zakaria, author of Against White Feminism ‘This is a truly excellent, important and insightful book’ Janina Ramirez, author of Femina ‘Bold, incisive, and beautifully told, The Patriarchs is a truly riveting investigation into the origins and consequences of structural power. The depth and originality of Angela Saini’s thought and research is breath-taking, and world-changing. A phenomenally important and deeply enjoyable book’ Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women ‘Saini brings sparkling intelligence to this debate. She is brilliant at ferreting out intriguing nuggets of information and synthesising them into a big but not over-simplified picture . . . How stirring it is to read such an optimistic view of our past and of our future’ Observer

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Book SynopsisGeorge Washington spent most of his time farming, often employing experimental methods. Washington saw slave-powered scientific agriculture as the key to the nation's prosperity. Bruce Ragsdale argues that it was slave labor's inefficiency as much as its inhumanity that finally convinced Washington to emancipate the men and women bonded to him.Trade ReviewDelightfully instructive…In this reliable and thorough rendering of ‘the most celebrated farmer of the age,’ Ragsdale undeniably casts new light on Washington on the question of slavery. By bringing to life Washington’s farming world, he does more than that. Washington at the Plow reminds us of the importance of agriculture and its enlightened improvement to America’s founding. In doing so, it illuminates much for early-American specialists and general readers alike. -- Mark G. Spencer * Washington Post *George Washington is typically known as the first U.S. president and a general. But for most of his life he was a farmer, and the implications of this agrarian background are, Ragsdale argues, far-reaching. Washington’s understanding of nation-building was inextricably linked to the concept of land cultivation, and his attempt to modernize farming techniques led him to reconsider, and ultimately reject, slave labor. * Bloomberg *Ragsdale does a masterful job presenting the quandary that slavery created for the first president…[This book] adeptly uses the lenses of agricultural development and slavery to present a multidimensional representation of America’s first—and arguably most revered—president. Both scholars and lay readers will find Ragsdale’s account a strong contribution to the historiography of Washington as a landowner, a public leader, and a private citizen. -- Camille Davis * H-Net Reviews *Bruce Ragsdale’s excellent work advances the scholarship of Washington and slavery using the rich resources Washington left behind…The flowing prose and readability make this book accessible to scholars and a general audience looking for a unique perspective on George Washington the farmer. -- Lynn Price Robbins * North Carolina Historical Review *Washington played a cautious, often contradictory role with respect to slavery. Why he did so is the subject of [this] timely new book…A portrait of Washington deeply rooted in the culture and politics of his era. -- Nicolaus Mills * Daily Beast *A fascinating and richly informative portrait of George Washington focused on how ‘agricultural improvement and the work of nation building were firmly joined in [his] mind.’…Ragsdale’s lucid explanations of agricultural and financial matters and excellent usage of underexamined primary sources make this a must-read for fans of early American history. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A landmark work that both deepens and complicates our understanding of George Washington. Ragsdale’s focus on farming—the subject the general and president cared most about—casts new light on nearly every other aspect of his life, not least the vexed issue of slavery. This fascinating book has done more to change my views on Washington than anything I have read in a long time. -- François Furstenberg, author of In the Name of the Father: Washington’s Legacy, Slavery, and the Making of a NationRagsdale depicts a wealthy white man in a slave society aspiring to be an enlightened farmer and a republican icon. Washington at the Plow is detailed, discerning, judicious. -- Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George WashingtonThis absorbing study of Washington as citizen farmer makes for compelling reading. Ragsdale is an authoritative guide to the famed Virginian’s embrace of agricultural innovations, then being pioneered in Britain, and to his attempts to make the enslaved workforce at Mount Vernon more productive, leading to his subsequent disillusionment with forced labor. He sheds new light on the African American communities on the Washington farms and the former president’s decision to emancipate his slaves after his death. -- Flora Fraser, author of The WashingtonsIn his engagingly written study of Washington as the ‘founding farmer,’ Bruce A. Ragsdale reveals that although the American Revolutionary War and the presidency would take Washington away from Virginia, the cultivation of the plantations at Mount Vernon were never far from his mind. Ragsdale convincingly argues that the ‘story of Washington’s life as a farmer fundamentally reshapes the familiar biography of the general and president.’ -- James MacKay * Agricultural History Review *An excellent book, clearly written and argued. What is most impressive is how far-reaching it is: Ragsdale helps us realize that agriculture tells us so much about Washington’s thought and character, from his plans for the political economy of the new nation to his view of slavery. Washington tried every device he could to make slavery work before eventually deciding the slave system was hopelessly flawed and must be abandoned. Better than anyone, Ragsdale explains Washington’s complicated decision to free his slaves in his will. -- Richard L. Bushman, author of The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century

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Book SynopsisFrederick Douglass's Narrative recounts his life as a slave in Maryland and escape to freedom in 1838. An important slave autobiography, it is significant both for what it tells us about slave life and about its author. It is here reprinted with contexualizing source material and other writings by Douglass, as well as an introduction discussing its literary and historical significance.Trade ReviewA huge amount is packed into a slim volume. If you'd like to know more about Frederick Douglass, this is an excellent place to start. * Vulpes Libris *

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Book SynopsisIn 1631 Barbary pirates kidnapped the inhabitants of Baltimore, West Cork in a daring night time raid. Only two of them ever returned. Here is the story of their kidnap, sale in the slave markets of Algiers and the political fallout from the attack.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Groundbreaking. . . . Radical and influential, Nascimento’s work is available here for the first time in English."---Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

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Book SynopsisThe “enlightening” (The Guardian) true story of the last ship to carry enslaved people to America, the remarkable town its survivors’ founded after emancipation, and the complicated legacy their descendants carry with them to this day—by the journalist who discovered the ship’s remains.Fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed, the Clotilda became the last ship in history to bring enslaved Africans to the United States. The ship was scuttled and burned on arrival to hide the wealthy perpetrators to escape prosecution. Despite numerous efforts to find the sunken wreck, Clotilda remained hidden for the next 160 years. But in 2019, journalist Ben Raines made international news when he successfully concluded his obsessive quest through the swamps of Alabama to uncover one of our nation’s most important historical artifacts. Traveling from Alabama to the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey in modern-day Benin, Raines recounts the ship’s perilous journey, the story of its rediscovery, and its complex legacy. Against all odds, Africatown, the Alabama community founded by the captives of the Clotilda, prospered in the Jim Crow South. Zora Neale Hurston visited in 1927 to interview Cudjo Lewis, telling the story of his enslavement in the New York Times bestseller Barracoon. And yet the haunting memory of bondage has been passed on through generations. Clotilda is a ghost haunting three communities—the descendants of those transported into slavery, the descendants of their fellow Africans who sold them, and the descendants of their fellow American enslavers. This connection binds these groups together to this day. At the turn of the century, descendants of the captain who financed the Clotilda’s journey lived nearby—where, as significant players in the local real estate market, they disenfranchised and impoverished residents of Africatown. From these parallel stories emerges a profound depiction of America as it struggles to grapple with the traumatic past of slavery and the ways in which racial oppression continues to this day. And yet, at its heart, The Last Slave Ship remains optimistic—an epic tale of one community’s triumphs over great adversity and a celebration of the power of human curiosity to uncover the truth about our past and heal its wounds.Trade Review"The fast-paced narrative begins with the voyage and follows the Clotilda’s survivors beyond the Civil War....Raines vividly conjures the watery landscape into which the Africans stepped... Knowledge of these waterways also led Raines to locate the Clotilda in a place previous searchers had ignored." — The New York Times (Editors' Choice) "In our uncertain times, The Last Slave Ship.. is a welcome and affecting history lesson... Enlightening." — The Guardian "A multidimensional exploration of the Clotilda, its bad actors and the descendants of the survivors... an important, weighty, timely read." — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Ben Raines made headlines in 2019 when he discovered the remains of the Clotilda, the last ship to bring enslaved people to America. His gripping, affecting book chronicles his search for the vessel in the swamps of Alabama and tells the stories of its captives and their descendants."— The Christian Science Monitor (Best Books of February) "The Last Slave Ship is an action-packed, whip-smart true account that’s filled with science, history, and compassion. Readers will devour it." — The Washington Informer "Ben Raines’ passionate detective work led him to discover the most famous slave shipwreck… Raines has written a crucial chapter in this unique story of loss and exploitation, but also of unsurmountable strength and hopefulness. An inspiring and captivating book.” — Sylviane A. Diouf, PhD, author of Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America "The Last Slave Ship is all at once the true story of a terrible crime and its survivors, a riveting account of discovering the evidence its perpetrators hoped would never be found, and a moving attempt to grapple with its legacy. We may never ultimately be able to reckon adequately with slavery, but Ben Raines reminds us that the task’s immensity is no excuse for neglecting it. This is a powerful and important book."— Joshua Rothman, the Dept. of History professor at University of Alabama "Raines’ adroit descriptions of the people and events triggered by the voyage of Clotilda are not only riveting, but speak to the true spirits of all involved." — Darron Patterson, President of The Clotilda Descendants Association "An evocative and informative tale of exploitation, deceit, and resilience.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A highly readable, elucidating narrative that investigates all the layers of a traumatic history.— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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Book SynopsisA contemporary critic described Ignatius Sancho as “what is very uncommon for men of his complexion, A man of letters.” A London shopkeeper, former butler, and descendant of slaves, Sancho was the first author of African descent to have his correspondence published. He was also a critic of literature, music, and art; a composer; and an advocate for the abolition of slavery. Sancho’s letters reveal an avid reader and prolific author, and his epistolary style shows a sophisticated understanding of both private and public audiences. Even after the abolition of the slave trade, proponents of equal rights on both sides of the Atlantic continued to use Sancho as an exemplar of the intellectual and moral capacity of people of African descent.In addition to the annotated letters by Sancho, this edition includes Laurence Sterne's letters to Sancho, Sancho's surviving autograph writings, and a selection of the many eighteenth-century responses to Sancho and his letters.Trade Review“Vincent Carretta’s Broadview edition of Ignatius Sancho’s letters revises and expands his earlier editions of this important eighteenth-century Black British text. Bringing together both the published and the recently discovered unpublished letters, along with meticulous footnotes, a wealth of scholarly and contextual material, and an illuminating introduction, Carretta allows us to see Sancho more vividly than ever before. But at the heart of this edition are the letters themselves: sparkling, witty, and endlessly readable, they remain a fascinating insight into the life of an African at the heart of eighteenth-century literary London.” — Brycchan Carey, Kingston University“The first man of African descent to publish a book in English, and to vote in a parliamentary election, Ignatius Sancho enjoyed considerable fame in eighteenth-century society. His letters were praised, quite rightly, for their wit, charm, and sensibility—though he was, equally, a trenchant critic of slavery and empire. Vincent Carretta’s edition for Broadview will become the new authoritative text, providing attentive and erudite annotation and a full biographical introduction, alongside all Sancho’s known letters, both in print and manuscript—including those only discovered in the last decade. Sancho is justly served in this excellent edition, which is a full and fitting memorial to his life and writing.” — Markman Ellis, Queen Mary University of LondonTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionIgnatius Sancho: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextA Note on MoneyLetters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African. In Two Volumes. To which are prefixed, Memoirs of his Life.Volume IVolume IIAppendix A: Ignatius Sancho’s FamilyAppendix B: Ignatius Sancho’s Principal CorrespondentsAppendix C: List of LettersAppendix D: Laurence Sterne’s Correspondence with Ignatius Sancho Sancho to Sterne [21 July 1766] Sterne to Sancho [27 July 1766] Sterne to Sancho [16 May 1767] Sterne to Sancho [30 June 1767] Appendix E: Ignatius Sancho’s Autograph Letters Sancho to William Stevenson (26 November 1776) Sancho to William Stevenson (24 October 1777) Sancho to William Stevenson (22 October 1778) Sancho to William Stevenson (14 November 1778) Sancho to Reverend Seth Ellis Stevenson (5 December 1778) Sancho to William Stevenson (5 December 1778) Sancho to William Stevenson (14 December 1778) Sancho to (presumably) William Stevenson (19 December 1778) Sancho to Reverend Seth Ellis Stevenson (4 January 1779) Sancho to Reverend Seth Ellis Stevenson (14 January 1779) Sancho to William Stevenson (11 March 1779) Sancho to (presumably) William Stevenson (1 April 1779) Sancho to William Stevenson (16 November 1779) Sancho to William Stevenson (4 January 1780) Sancho to (presumably) William Stevenson (18 August 1780) Appendix F: Eighteenth-Century References to Ignatius Sancho, and Responses to Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African The Monthly Review, or, Literary Journal (November 1775) The Gentleman’s Magazine: and Historical Chronicle (January 1776) The Public Advertiser (4 June 1778) Edmund Rack (20 April 1779) A Manuscript Letter Dated 17 September 1779 from the Aspiring Author George Cumberland to His Brother Richard Dennison Cumberland, Vicar of Driffield in Gloucester County, Attests to Sancho’s Reputation as a Literary Critic (17 September 1779) Ewan Clark, Miscellaneous Poems, By Mr. Ewan Clark (1779) John Thomas Smith, Nollekens and His Times (1829) The Gazeteer, and New Daily Advertiser (15 December 1780) Anthony Highmore, Jr., “Epistle to Mr. J. H—, on the Death of his justly Lamented Friend, Ignatius Sancho” (1780-82) The Gentleman’s Magazine: and Historical Chronicle (April 1781) The Gentleman’s Magazine: and Historical Chronicle (May 1781) The Public Advertiser (9 August 1782) William Whitehead, British Poet Laureate Since 1757, in an August 1782 Letter to George Simon Harcourt, second Earl Harcourt (August 1782) A New Review; with Literary Curiosities, and Literary Intelligence (1782) The Gentleman’s Magazine (September 1782) The European Magazine and London Review (September 1782) The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1782 (1783) John Williams, Thoughts on the Origin, and on the Most Rational and Natural Method of Teaching Languages: with Some Observations on the Necessity of One Universal Language for All Works of Science (1783) The Monthly Review: or, Literary Journal (December 1783) The Critical Review: or, Annals of Literature (January 1784) Town and Country Magazine, or Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction, and Entertainment (February 1784) Elkanah Watson, Men and Times of the Revolution; or, Memoirs of Elkanah Watson. Including Journals of Travels in Europe and America, from 1777 to 1842 (1856) George Gregory, Essays Historical and Moral (1785) Joseph Woods, Thoughts on the Slavery of the Negroes (1784) James Tobin, Cursory Remarks upon the Reverend Mr. Ramsay’s Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies. By a Friend of the West India Colonies, and their Inhabitants (1785) Thomas Clarkson, An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African, Translated from a Latin Dissertation, which was honoured with the first Prize in the University of Cambridge, for the Year 1785 (1786) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1787) Thomas Cooper, Letters on the Slave Trade: First Published in Wheeler’s Manchester Chronicle; and since Re-printed with Additions and Alterations (1787) “Civis,” The Morning Chronicle, and London Advertiser (5 February 1788) “Civis,” The Morning Chronicle, and London Advertiser (19 August 1788) The Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette (4 December 1788) William Mason, An Occasional Discourse, Preached in the Cathedral of St. Peter in York, January 27, 1788, on the Subject of the African Slave-Trade (1788) Peter Peckard, Am I not a Man and a Brother? (1788) Jacques-Pierre Brissot de Warville, A Critical Examination of the Marquis de Chatellux’s Travels in North America ... Principally Intended as a Refutation of his Opinions Concerning the Quakers, the Negroes, the People, and Mankind (1788) The County Magazine, for the Years 1786 and 1787 (1788) “Clericus,” The Country Curate; or, Letters from Clericus to Benevolus (1788) William Dickson, Letters on Slavery (1789) Richard Nisbet, The Capacity of Negroes for Religious and Moral Improvement Considered (1789) Thomas Burgess, Considerations on the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade, upon Grounds of Natural, Religious, and Political Duty (1789) Fortescue; or, The Soldier’s Reward: A Characteristic Novel (1789) Elizabeth Bentley, from “On the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade. July, 1789,” in Genuine Poetical Compositions, on Various Subjects (1791) Clara Reeve, Plans of Education; with Remarks on the Systems of Other Writers. In a Series of Letters between Mrs. Darnford and Her Friends (1792) Alexander Chalmers, A New and General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical, Critical, and Impartial Account of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in Every Nation of the World (1795) John Gabriel Stedman, Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (1796) William Stevenson in John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century (1815) Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAn essential, rigorous, and lively introduction to the beginnings of American law. How did American colonists transform British law into their own? What were the colonies' first legal institutions, and who served in them? And why did the early Americans develop a passion for litigation that continues to this day? In Law and People in Colonial America, Peter Charles Hoffer tells the story of early American law from its beginnings on the British mainland to its maturation during the crisis of the American Revolution. For the men and women of colonial America, Hoffer explains, law was a pervasive influence in everyday life. Because it was their law, the colonists continually adapted it to fit changing circumstances. They also developed a sense of legalism that influenced virtually all social, economic, and political relationships. This sense of intimacy with the law, Hoffer argues, assumed a transforming power in times of crisis. In the midst of a war for independence, American revolutiTable of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition Preface to the Revised EditionPreface to the First EditionAcknowledgmentsChapter One. "That the Said Statutes, Lawes, and Ordinances May Be as Neere as Conveniently May, Agreeable to the Forme of the Lawes and Pollicy of England"Chapter Two. "And to the End that All Laws Prepared by the Governour and Provincial Council Aforesaid, May Yet Have the More Full Concurrence of the Free-Men of the Province"Chapter Three. "If I Am Become Their Son, They Must Act the Part of a Father"Chapter Four. "Take All the Care in Your Power to Guard against Any Further Wicked Designs"Chapter Five. "These Dirty and Ridiculous Litigations Have Been Multiplied in This Town, Till the Very Earth Groans and the Stones Cry Out"Chapter Six. "Just so th' Unletter'd Blockheads of the Robe; (Than Whom no Greater Monsters on the Globe); Their Wire-Drawn, Incoherent, Jargon Spin, Or Lug a Point by Head and Shoulders In"Chapter Seven. "On What Principles, Then, on What Motives of Action, Can We Depend for the Security of our Liberties, of our Properties . . . of Life Itself?"ConclusionNotesA Bibliographic EssayIndex

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Book SynopsisDavid Bristow offers spellbinding stories of some amazing, little-known characters from South Africa, past and very past, including the giant Trekboer Coenraad de Buys - rebel, renegade, a man with a price on his head who married many women and fathered a small nation.

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Book SynopsisThe slave ship was the instrument of history''s greatest forced migration and a key to the origins and growth of global capitalism, yet much of its history remains unknown. Marcus Rediker uncovers the extraordinary human drama that played out on this world-changing vessel. Drawing on thirty years of maritime research, he demonstrates the truth of W.E.B DuBois''s observation: the slave trade was the most magnificent drama in the last thousand years of human history. The Slave Ship focuses on the so-called golden age of the slave trade, the period of 1700-1808, when more than six million people were transported out of Africa, most of them on British and American ships, across the Atlantic, to slave on New World plantations. Marcus Rediker tells poignant tales of life, death and terror as he captures the shipboard drama of brutal discipline and fierce resistance. He reconstructs the lives of individuals, such as John Newton, James Field Stanfield and Olaudah Equiano, and the collective experience of captains, sailors and slaves. Mindful of the haunting legacies of race, class and slavery, Marcus Rediker offers a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the ghost ship of our modern consciousness.Trade Review'A shockingly vivid work . . . from a gifted chronicler of history's lower decks, at home in the unruly Atlantic world of pirates, slavers, sailors, runaways and rebels' * Boyd Tonkin, Independent *'Enlightening and moving . . . Rediker comes closer than anyone so far to recreating the horrifying social reality of the Atlantic slave ship . . . If anyone doubts the reality of that human story, they only need to read Rediker's book' * James Walvin, BBC History Magazine *'Meticulously researched . . . a terrible tale told here with great skill, clarity and compassion' Siobhan Murphy, Metro * Siobhan Murphy, Metro *'The slave ship is a powerful focus for a profound drama' * Iain Finlayson, The Times *'A brilliantly organised and compelling study of the Atlantic slave trade . . . A truly magnificent book' * Sunday Telegraph *'The Slave Ship provides eloquent testimony to the high human drama of Atlantic 'trafficking'; the greed of the few and the manifold misery of the many that was endured in the trivial cause of sweetness' * Ian Thomson, Spectator *'Rediker has made magnificent use of archival data; his probing, compassionate eye turns up numerous finds that other people who've written on the subject, myself included, have missed' * Adam Hochschild, International Herald Tribune *'Rediker has produced a gripping study of one aspect of a great evil' * Sunday Herald *'Gripping drama of human suffering' * Lucy Sholes, Observer *'Brilliant study' * Socialist Review *'The Slave Ship is dramatic, moving and kaleidoscopic' * London Review of Books *'In this compelling books Marcus Rediker extends his widely known and highly respected mastery of the social history of the Anglo-American North Atlantic to the slave ship ... the book is intricately conceptualized and written beautifully' * International Journal of Maritime History *

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Book SynopsisThe rise and fall of the business of slave trading - by a bestselling historianTrade ReviewA 'darkly compelling history of the trade'. * MAIL ON SUNDAY *The most impressive single volume history of the subject. Combining grand narrative sweep with vivid, telling detail, Thomas provides an elegant synthesis of contemporary accounts and modern scholarship * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *

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Book SynopsisDemonstrates how landscape features such as waterways, iron forges, and caves played a key role in the conduct and effectiveness of the Underground Railroad.Trade Review"In this book Cheryl Janifer LaRoche provides a corrective to this gap in the history by taking a broader landscape approach to 'geographies of resistance,' and she also traces in understated terms but powerful examples the silencing of the same history."--The Journal of American History "LaRoche deserves praise for her effort to situate free blacks firmly at the center of the scholarship on the Underground Railroad. She also makes contribution to that body of literature."--Civil War Book Review "This important addition to the scholarship on the Underground Railroad focuses on the role of free black communities. . . . Utilizing archaeology, previously untapped written sources, and oral history, the author makes a convincing argument for including black communities in the narrative about the Underground Railroad. Highly recommended."--Choice"The Geography of Resistance is carefully researched, tightly organized, and written from the heart. . . . LaRoche recognizes the natural environment as an agent of history, and she deftly weaves the landscape into each story. The book demonstrates the level of scholarship that is now possible thanks to research conducted in recent decades by federal archaeologists and by African American historical organizations, and the work that has been encouraged and guided by the National Park Service."--Annals of Iowa"An exemplary model of nuanced, interdisciplinary scholarship."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"By considering the land itself a ‘geography of resistance’ and using an interdisciplinary approach, LaRoche pushes the boundaries of traditional scholarship. LaRoche marshals significant historical evidence to connect black churches and the Underground Railroad. Quite notable indeed."--The Journal of Southern History"Of interest to lay readers and scholars alike. Anyone fascinated by the Underground Railroad and black resistance more broadly will profit from this volume."--Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains"The Geography of Resistance is carefully researched, tightly organized, and written from the heart.--The Annals of Iowa "LaRoche's well-written and carefully researched study provides new insight into the history of the Underground Railroad and will serve as an indispensable resource for anyone who is interested in the study of early nineteenth-century America."--The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society "LaRoche's work contributes to a more complete understanding of the relationship between free black communities, the black church, and the Underground Railroad."--American Historical Review "Well researched and well written. . . . The Geography of Resistance: Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad adds valuable new insights into the story of the migration of African Americans. It broadens the knowledge of a people who were fugitives in their own country, and it will allow future researchers to uncover other places of refuge for these African Americans."--Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal "Employing the tools of archeology, LaRoche's study provides a powerful new window into the Underground Railroad and significantly enriches our understanding of it. She helps rescue some of the crucial Underground Railroad lore that scholars have been attempting to substantiate or refute for more than a century."--Keith Griffler, author of Front Line of Freedom: African Americans and the Forging of the Underground Railroad in the Ohio Valley

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Book Synopsis''The degradations, the wrongs, the vices, that grow out of slavery, are more than I can describe.''Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in the American South and went on to write one of the most extraordinary slave narratives. First published pseudonymously in 1861, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl describes Jacobs''s treatment at the hands of her owners, her eventual escape to the North, and her perilous existence evading recapture as a fugitive slave. To save herself from sexual assault and protect her children she is forced to hide for seven years in a tiny attic space, suffering terrible psychological and physical pain.Written to expose the appalling treatment of slaves in the South and the racism of the free North, and to advance the abolitionist cause, Incidents is notable for its careful construction and literary effects. Jacobs''s story of self-emancipation and a growing feminist consciousness is the tale of an individual and a searing indictment of slavery''s inhumanity. This edition includes the short memoir by Jacobs''s brother, John S. Jacobs, ''A True Tale of Slavery''.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewFew accounts of American slavery are as memorable as Jacobs' harrowing memoir. Born a slave in North Carolina in 1813, Harriet was in her teens when her owner, Dr James Norcom, first started to proposition her. Harriet was forced to take refuge in her grandmother's tiny attic for nearly seven years, before finally escaping to the North. R J Ellis's introduction to this latest edition is an insightful overview of the slave narrative for a new generation of readers. * Lesley McDowell, Independent (Radar) *Jacob's story is so dramatic, so illustrative of the horrors of slavery - the sickening violence, the waste of potential, the unpredictability of lives lived according to slave owner's caprices - that is almost reads as a novel * Victoria Segal, The Guardian *It's easy to be appalled at the notion of slavery, but this astonishing account, published in 1861, by Harriet Jacobs, born a slave in the American South, emphasises the personal experience. She makes us feel the minutiae of daily life as a slave. * Lesly McDowell, The Sunday Herald *

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Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewHistory as literature, meticulously researched and masterfully written. * New York Times Book Review *A formidable achievement. . . . No historian has attempted to weave together in so subtle a manner the threads of the most complex and turbulent period of Caribbean history. * Times Literary Supplement *Brilliant. . . . Startling. * New Statesman *A remarkable book. . . . Intelligent, humane, brilliantly written. * Book World *

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Book SynopsisFor half a century from its publication in 1901 Up from Slavery was the best known book written by an African American. The life of ex-slave Booker T. Washington embodied the legendary rise of the American self-made man, and his autobiography gave prominence for the first time to the voice of a group which had to pull itself up from extreme adversity. This edition includes detailed notes and a fascinating introduction which which puts Washington'sachievement in its historical context.

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Book SynopsisBorn a free man in New York State in 1808, Solomon Northup was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841. He spent the next twelve years as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. During this time he was frequently abused and often afraid for his life. After regaining his freedom in 1853, Northup published this gripping account of his captivity. As an educated man, Northup was able to present an exceptionally detailed description of slave life and plantation society. Indeed, this book is probably the fullest, most realistic picture of the ''peculiar institution'' during the three decades before the Civil War. Northup tells his story both from the viewpoint of an outsider, who had experienced thirty years of freedom and dignity in the United States before his capture, and as a slave, reduced to total bondage and submission. Very few personal accounts of American slavery were written by slaves with a similar history. This extraordinary slave narrative, new to Penguin Classics, has a new introduction by prize-winning historian and author Ira Berlin, an an essay by Henry Louis Gates Jr.Trade Review“I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frank’s Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before. . . . The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity. . . . I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage. Solomon’s bravery and life deserve nothing less.” —Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, from the Foreword“Frightening, gripping and inspiring . . . Northup’s story seems almost biblical, structured as it is as a descent and resurrection narrative of a protagonist who, like Christ, was 33 at the time of his abduction. . . . Northup reminds us of the fragile nature of freedom in any human society and the harsh reality that whatever legal boundaries existed between so-called free states and slave states in 1841, no black man, woman or child was permanently safe.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., from the Afterword “For sheer drama, few accounts of slavery match Solomon Northup’s tale of abduction from freedom and forcible enslavement.” —Ira Berlin, from the Introduction“If you think the movie offers a terrible-enough portrait of slavery, please, do read the book. . . . The film is stupendous art, but it owes much to a priceless piece of document. Solomon Northup’s memoir is history. . . . His was not simply an extraordinary story, but an account of the life of a great many ordinary people.” —The Daily Beast“An incredible document, amazingly told and structured. Tough, but riveting. The movie of it by Steve McQueen might be the most successful adaptation of a book ever undertaken; text and film complement each other wildly.” —Rachel Kushner, The New York Times Book Review“The best firsthand account of slavery.” —James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, in The New York Times Book Review“Northup published a memoir of his 12-year nightmare in 1853, the year after Uncle Tom’s Cabin came out, and it was so successful that he went on to participate in two stage adaptations. The book dropped from sight in the 20th century, but the movie tie-in will certainly reestablish its virtually unique status as a work by an educated free man who managed to return from slavery.” —The Hollywood Reporter

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Book SynopsisToni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She was the author of many novels, including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Beloved, Paradise and Love. She received the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize for her fiction and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, in 2012 by Barack Obama. Toni Morrison died on 5 August 2019 at the age of eighty-eight.Trade ReviewToni Morrison makes me believe in God. She makes me believe in a divine being, because luck and genetics don’t seem to come close to explaining her * Guardian *A beautiful and important book * The Times *Powerful, elemental... The issues Morrison explores go to the root of what humanity is. They could not be more important * Guardian *Left me trembling at the sheer brilliance of its storytelling and the unassailable dignity of its purpose * Evening Standard *So enthralling that you'll want to read it more than once * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisWilliam Hague has written the life of William Wilberforce who was both a staunch conservative and a tireless campaigner against the slave trade.Hague shows how Wilberforce, after his agonising conversion to evangelical Christianity, was able to lead a powerful tide of opinion, as MP for Hull, against the slave trade, a process which was to take up to half a century to be fully realised. Indeed, he succeeded in rallying to his cause the support in the Commons Debates of some the finest orators in Parliament, having become one of the most respected speakers of those times.Hague examines twenty three crucial years in British political life during which Wilberforce met characters as varied as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Tsar Alexander of Russia, and the one year old future Queen Victoria who used to play at his feet. He was friend and confidant of Pitt, Spencer Perceval and George Canning. He saw these figures raised up or destroyed in twenty three years of war and revolution.Hague preTrade Review'The author has produced a splendid read for which he deserves the utmost credit. He tells Wilberforce's story with such enthusiasm and narrative skill that, in this bicentennial year, his book seems assured of bestsellerdom. I put it down liking Hague as much as I was moved by his tale, one of the most remarkable in British political history.' Sunday Times 'An authoritative account of a remarkable life.' Sunday Times 'A fine, informative tribute.' Observer 'A superb biography.' Daily Express 'An enthusiastic and balanced portrayal of an appealing figure.' Sunday Telegraph 'Gripping…absorbing…the definitive biography.' Daily Mail 'Informed by a nuanced sense of what was and was not politically possible at that moment…lucid and convincing…gripping.' Daily Telegraph ‘William Hague has assumed from Roy Jenkins the mantle of Britain's foremost politician-biographer. This magnificent biography of William Wilberforce succeeds his good debut life of William Pitt…his achievement goes far beyond an attractive prose style and meticulously accurate historical re-recreation. The insights drawn from a wide parliamentary and political experience bring to life the genius of the great anti-slave trade campaigner in a wholly new and vivid way.’ Evening Standard

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Book SynopsisTraces the Caribbean from its pre-Columbian state through European contact and colonialism to the rise of US hegemony and the economic turbulence of the twenty-first century. This volume begins with a discussion of the region's diverse geography and challenging ecology and features an in-depth look at the transatlantic slave trade.

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Book SynopsisThe author explores the international impact and social significance of antislavery thought in a critical era of political and industrial revolution. He examines the implications and historical consequences of challenging the long-accepted institution of slavery. The study not only provides a comparative account of early antislavery movements, but also uses the controversies over slavery to analyse shifting attitudes towards labour, social order, political representation, and the authority of law and religion. The focus is on the Anglo-American experience, but Davis makes illuminating comparisons with the history of slavery in France and Latin America. The book also offers portraits of important historical figures, including Thomas Jefferson, Granville Sharp, Bryan Edward, and Moreau de Saint-Mery, and accounts of key groups, movements, and bodies of literature. Through the history of slavery, Davis explores many areas of the social and intellectual history of the revolutionary era, creating a new reading of the entire age.Trade ReviewThe Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution by David Brion Davis is a work of majestic scale, written with great skill. It explores the growing consciousness, during a half century of revolutionary change, of the oldest and most extreme form of human exploitation. Concentrating on the Anglo-American experience, the historian also pursues his theme wherever it leads in western culture. His book is a distinguished example of historical scholarship and art. * From the citation for the 1975 National Book Award *Table of ContentsPreface to the New Edition Preface Notes on Terms A Calendar of Events Associated with Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Emancipation, 1770-1823 1: What the Abolitionists Were Up Against 2: The Seats of Power, I 3: The Seats of Power, II 4: The Boundaries of Idealism 5: The Quaker Ethic and the Antislavery International 6: The Emancipation of America, I 7: The Emancipation of America, II 8: The Preservation of English Liberty, I 9: The Preservation of English Liberty, II 10: Antislavery and the Conflict of Laws 11: The Good Book Epilogue: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Phenomenology of Mind

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Book SynopsisThe proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa.The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa. Once back ‘home’, however, these Americo-Liberians had to integrate with the resident tribes – who did not want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Mother Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves . . . the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place. Where men should have stood shoulder to shoulder, they turned on each other instead.Land of My Fathers plunges us into this world. But in the midst of turmoil, there is friendship. Edward Richard, a man born into slavery and a preacher by profession, is convinced that the future of Liberia lies in bringing peace amongst the tribes. His mission takes him to the far north, where he meets an extraordinary man, Halay. Edward’s new and dearest friend is ready to sacrifice his own life to protect his country; for the Liberians believe that with Halay’s death, no war will ever threaten their land. A century later, this belief is crushed when war engulfs the land, bearing away with it the descendants of both Edward and Halay. The story of Halay is the untold story of Liberia. What he did would come to stand as symbol of man's ability to defy the odds, to face the inevitable head on.Trade Review'What an achievement,' Moses Isegawa, (The Abbysinian Chronicles); 'A work rooted in the slave narrative tradition of Alex Haley's Roots. Not a word more, not a word less. A taut, controlled narrative,' (Standard Der Letteren); 'Well written, lyrical story for the general public,' (The Association of Dutch libraries); 'A roman into which you would gladly crawl,' (The Groene Amsterdammer); 'Sherif creates unity between two worlds. It's a novel that is valid,' (Johan Diepstraten, author) i

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Book SynopsisEighteenth-century Britain was the world’s leading centre for the slave trade. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild, author of the Duff Cooper prize-winning King Leopold's Ghost, charts the history of the moment everything changed. In 1788, the slave trade flourishing across the British Empire, amassing wealth beyond measure. Bury the Chains is the remarkable story of the men who sought to end slavery and brought the issue to the heart of British political life.Hochschild, lauded for his scholarly prowess and engrossing storytelling, transports us from London's bustling coffee houses to the West Indies' backbreaking sugar plantations. Exploring the roles of key figures in the movement such as John Newton, Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and former slave Olaudah Equiano, it tells the history of the battle against an era of abhorrent human exploitation, illuminating the inception of the international human rig

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIra Berlin ranks as one of the greatest living historians of slavery in the United States… The Long Emancipation offers a useful reminder that abolition was not the charitable work of respectable white people, or not mainly that. Instead, the demise of slavery was made possible by the constant discomfort inflicted on middle-class white society by black activists. And like the participants in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, Berlin has not forgotten that the history of slavery in the United States—especially the history of how slavery ended—is never far away when contemporary Americans debate whether their nation needs to change. -- Edward E. Baptist * New York Times Book Review *The cause of the end of slavery in the U.S. is a long, complex story that is usually, in the general reading public’s mind, simplified by ‘the Civil War ended it.’ In this remarkably cogent, impressively thought-out, and even beautifully styled account by a university historian, we are given emphatic witness to his long-held professional conviction that ‘freedom’s arrival,’ as he phrases it, was not due to a ‘moment or a man’ but because of a process that took a century to unfold. -- Brad Hooper * Booklist (starred review) *A short, fast-paced interpretive history of the transition of African Americans from chattels to free persons. [Berlin] challenges previous scholars who identify both a ‘moment’ and a human factor that sparked emancipation—generally either President Abraham Lincoln or the South’s slaves—for initiating slavery’s overthrow. Instead, Berlin takes the long view in charting emancipation’s circuitous metamorphosis, from the late 18th century until the 1860s… In the end, Berlin credits black persons, north and south, for gradually but forcefully removing slavery’s stain from the fabric of American life. -- J. D. Smith * Choice *Berlin lucidly illuminates the ‘near-century-long’ process of abolition and how, in many ways, the work of emancipation continues today. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisThe story of the longest and most complex legal challenge to slavery in American historyTrade Review"William Thomas casts a bright light into the period’s darkness. . . . He reveals a remarkable struggle for freedom, one buoyed at first by new aspirations in the broader culture and later doomed by rekindled fears. . . . Valuable and provocative. . . . Mr. Thomas brings a clear and sensitive eye to the tangled relationship of black and white Americans in the early 19th century."—Fergus Bordewich, Wall Street Journal"Gripping. . . . Profound and prodigiously researched."—Alison L. LaCroix, Washington PostSelected as a finalist for the 2021 PROSE Awards, sponsored by the Association of American PublishersFinalist for the George Washington Book Award, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Center and Washington CollegeWinner of the SHEAR Best Book Prize, sponsored by The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic Winner of the 2021 Nebraska Book Award, Nonfiction Legal History category, sponsored by Nebraska Center for the BookCHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles 2021“Here is a strikingly original, eloquent, and humane book on an inhumane institution. The story restores the names and histories of people who fought for freedom for generations.”—Edward Ayers, author of The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America“In A Question of Freedom, historian William Thomas brings to light the truly remarkable and largely forgotten efforts of people held in bondage to sue for their freedom in the courts of the early United States. A genuine contribution to the social, legal, and political history of American slavery, this is a book of great depth and insight.”—Adam Rothman, historian and curator of the Georgetown Slavery Archive“With its vivid narration, revelatory research, careful contextualization, and bracing honesty, A Question of Freedom demonstrates that freedom suits were not isolated episodes but instead a major form of slave resistance, with far-reaching and ongoing effects in the long freedom struggle. This book is essential reading for understanding the history of slavery and the modern debate over reparations.”—Elizabeth R. Varon, author of Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War"William Thomas has produced an important and astonishing chronicle of the legal battles waged by enslaved people for their own freedom. Braiding white-knuckle courtroom drama together with a searing exploration of his own family history, he redefines slavery’s place in early American law—not an inherent feature, but a dubious institution whose contradictions were exploited by the enslaved to protect themselves and their families.”—Yoni Appelbaum, Senior Editor, The Atlantic"A Question of Freedom is an essential book that details the extraordinary efforts of enslaved people to challenge both the legitimacy and absoluteness of slavery in courts of law. It is a work of remarkable honesty and humanity that should inform any conversation on the legacy of slavery. Please read it."—Lauret Savoy, author of Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the America Landscape

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Book SynopsisIn Jihād in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions, a preeminent historian of Africa argues that scholars of the Americas and the Atlantic world have not given Africa its due consideration as part of either the Atlantic world or the age of revolutions.Trade Review“This book represents … a career-spanning synthesis of Lovejoy’s most influential work, as well as a challenging and original argument about the importance of ‘mainstreaming’ the history of the West African jihadist movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth century into broader accounts of the ‘Age of Revolutions’ in the Atlantic world.…Jihād in West Africa During the Age of Revolutions will undoubtedly become the standard reference in the field.” * Journal of Islamic Studies *“Jihād in West Africa is a hugely compelling book, prompting Africanists, Atlanticists and specialists of revolutionary Europe and the Americas to reconsider established paradigms and break from the silos imposed by a mixture of cultural divides, rigid geographic parameters and different linguistic specializations.” * Journal of Global Slavery *“Paul Lovejoy makes an original and important contribution to several major historiographies—of Africa, Islam, the Atlantic World, the Atlantic slave trade, slavery in the Americas, and the comparative history of slavery. Jihād in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions is grounded in deep research in both primary and secondary sources, and perhaps most importantly, in a professional lifetime spent thinking deeply and creatively about these topics.”

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Book SynopsisThis book sensitively tells the powerful history of Black hair foryounger readers.

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Book SynopsisFrom the Author of WOMEN, RACE AND CLASS, this is a timely provocation that examines the concept of attaining freedom in light of our current world conflictsIn these newly collected essays, interviews and speeches, world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world.Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality and prison abolitionism for today''s struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyses today''s struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine.Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us to imagine and build the movement for human liberation. And in doing so, she reminds us that ''Freedom is a constant struggle.''Trade ReviewAngela Davis new book made me think of what Dear Nelson Mandela kept reminding us, that we must be willing to embrace that long walk to freedom. Understanding what it takes to really be free, to have no fear, is the first and most important step one has to make before undertaking this journey. Angela is the living proof that this arduous challenge can also be an exhilarating and beautiful one -- Archbishop Desmond TutuIncisive, urgent, and comprehensive . . . These essays take us back in history to the founders of revolutionary and anti-racist struggle, but they also take us toward the possibility of ongoing intersectional solidarity and struggle. Angela Davis gathers in her lucid words our luminous history and the most promising future of freedom -- Judith ButlerWhether you've grown up with the courage and conscience of Angela Davis, or are discovering her for the first time, Freedom Is a Constant Struggle is a small book that will be a huge help in daily life and action . . . [Davis] exposes facts and makes connections, but also leads in the most important way by example -- Gloria Steinem

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Book SynopsisThe abolitionist movement launched the global human rights struggle in the 18th and 19th centuries and redefined the meaning of equality throughout the Atlantic world. Even in the 21st century, it remains a touchstone of democratic activism-a timeless example of mobilizing against injustice. As famed black abolitionist Frederick Douglass commented in the 1890s, the antislavery struggle constituted a grand army of activists whose labors would cast a long shadow over American history. This introduction to the abolitionist movement, written by African American and abolition expert Richard Newman, highlights the key people, institutions, and events that shaped the antislavery struggle between the American Revolutionary and Civil War eras as well as the major themes that guide scholarly understandings of the antislavery struggle. From early abolitionist activism in the Anglo American world and the impact of slave revolutions on antislavery reformers to the rise of black pamphleteers and the emergence of antislavery women before the Civil War, the study of the abolitionist movement has been completely reoriented during the past decade. Where before scholars focused largely on radical (white) abolitionists along the Atlantic seaboard in the years just before the Civil War, they now understand abolitionism via an ever-expanding roster of activists through both time and space. While this book will examine famous antislavery figures such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, it will also underscore the significance of early abolitionist lawsuits, the impact of the Haitian Revolution on both black and white abolitionists in the United States, and women''s increasingly prominent role as abolitionist editors, organizers, and orators. By drawing on the exciting insights of recent work on these and other themes, a very short introduction to the abolitionist movement will provide a compelling and up-to-date narrative of the American antislavery struggleTrade ReviewNewman's book offers a rigorous and engaging account of the movement that is digestible in a single sitting. As valuable as it is as an introductory text for readers new to the topic, its varied insights and anecdotes will also enlighten scholars more deeply invested in this history. * Margot Minardi, The American Historical Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Ch. 1 First Freedoms: The Abolitionist Movement in Revolutionary America Ch. 2 The Rise of Black Abolitionism Ch. 3 Abolitionist Transformations, 1820s-1850s Ch. 4 The Abolitionist Movement in the Civil War Era Conclusion: Abolitionist Endings and Beginnings References Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisIn retelling the story of the radical Alexander Hamilton, Parenti rewrites the history of early America and the global economy. For much of the twentieth century, Hamilton-sometimes seen as the bad boy of the founding fathers or portrayed as the patron saint of bankers-was out of fashion. In contrast his rival Thomas Jefferson, the patrician democrat and slave owner who feared government overreach, was claimed by all. But more recently, Hamilton has become a subject of serious interest again.He was a contradictory mix: a tough soldier, austere workaholic, exacting bureaucrat, sexual libertine, glory-obsessed romantic with suicidal tendencies-and pioneer of industrialisation. As Parenti argues, we have yet to fully appreciate Hamilton as the primary architect of American capitalism and the developmental state. In exploring his life and work, Parenti rediscovers this gadfly as a pathbreaking political thinker and institution builder. In this vivid portrait, Hamilton emerges as a singularly important historical figure: a thinker and politico who laid the foundation for America's ascent to global supremacy and mass industrialisation-for better or worse.Trade ReviewIn praise of Lockdown America: "In the best tradition of investigative journalism, paced like a fine novel, it carries the authority of meticulous academic research." * Independent *In praise of Lockdown America: "Exhaustively documented ... deserves a full hearing from anyone serious about ending the often horrific realities of the criminal justice system." * Washington Post *In praise of Lockdown America: "Essential reading for those in law enforcement and politics who are attracted by the rhetoric of zero tolerance." * Times Literary Supplement *In praise of Lockdown America: "Terrifying, informative and gripping." * New York Press *

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