Overview

There has been nothing like Atlantic slavery. About twelve million Africans loaded onto the notorious slave ships, marshalled and transported in unbearable conditions to work the tropical lands of the Americas was a form of oppression, driven by economics on a global scale, which lasted for the best part of four centuries. he story of slavery embraces the lives of many millions of people- Africans, Europeans and Americans. Its scope and the ways in which it has shaped the modern world are so far-reaching as to make it ungraspable. This book therefore takes a unique course. It focuses on the lives of three individuals caught up in the enterprise of human enslavement - a trader, John Newton, an owner, Thomas Thistlewood, and a slave, Olaudah Equiano. Their parallel lives are microcosms of the larger story- together they provide an account of slavery at its peak and how it was finally brought to its knees. ohn Newton (1725-1807), best known as the author of Amazing Grace , was a slave captain who marshalled his human cargoes with a brutality that he looked back on with shame and contrition. Thomas Thistlewood (1721-86) lived his life in a remote corner of western Jamaica and his

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Much more than just a catalogue of horrors. . . . James Walvin is extraordinarily alert to the contradictions within the human heart. - Mail on Sunday <br> Taken together, their stories provide a remarkably intimate insider's perspective on the slave trade, and give us some sense of its staggering human cost. -- Scotsman <p> From the Trade Paperback edition.

How did Britain, the 'slave trading poacher' of the 18th century, transform herself into the 'abolitionist game-keeper' of the 19th century? . . . James Walvin, a renowned historian of black people in Britain, finds answers to this mystery in the lives of three men who contributed, sometimes unwittingly, to the demise of a seemingly unassailable evil. -- Daily Telegraph

"""A remarkable and gripping story, asking profound questions."" --""Independent"" ""Addresses the enormity of the slave trade by looking in depth at three individuals inextricably bound up in it."" --""London Review of Books"" ""Clearly written and well-researched."" --""Daily Express"" ""How did Britain, the 'slave trading poacher' of the 18th century, transform herself into the 'abolitionist game-keeper' of the 19th century? . . . James Walvin, a renowned historian of black people in Britain, finds answers to this mystery in the lives of three men who contributed, sometimes unwittingly, to the demise of a seemingly unassailable evil."" --""Daily Telegraph"" ""Much more than just a catalogue of horrors . . . James Walvin is extraordinarily alert to the contradictions within the human heart . . . Walvin is never blind to the horrors of slavery, nor to the responsibility of individuals for their actions. But he recognizes that the world was different then and that the institution of slavery encouraged individual acts of evil that would otherwise never have occurred."" --""Mail on Sunday"" ""Taken together, their stories provide a remarkably intimate insider's perspective on the slave trade, and give us some sense of its staggering human cost."" --""Scotsman"" ""Much more than just a catalogue of horrors. . . . James Walvin is extraordinarily alert to the contradictions within the human heart.""-""Mail on Sunday"" ""Taken together, their stories provide a remarkably intimate insider's perspective on the slave trade, and give us some sense of its staggering human cost.""--""Scotsman"" ""From the Trade Paperback edition."""

Much more than just a catalogue of horrors. . . . James Walvin is extraordinarily alert to the contradictions within the human heart. - Mail on Sunday <br><br> Taken together, their stories provide a remarkably intimate insider's perspective on the slave trade, and give us some sense of its staggering human cost. -- Scotsman <br><br><br> From the Trade Paperback edition.

Addresses the enormity of the slave trade by looking in depth at three individuals inextricably bound up in it. -- London Review of Books A remarkable and gripping story, asking profound questions. -- Independent Much more than just a catalogue of horrors . . . James Walvin is extraordinarily alert to the contradictions within the human heart . . . Walvin is never blind to the horrors of slavery, nor to the responsibility of individuals for their actions. But he recognizes that the world was different then and that the institution of slavery encouraged individual acts of evil that would otherwise never have occurred. -- Mail on Sunday Taken together, their stories provide a remarkably intimate insider's perspective on the slave trade, and give us some sense of its staggering human cost. -- Scotsman Clearly written and well-researched. -- Daily Express How did Britain, the 'slave trading poacher' of the 18th century, transform herself into the 'abolitionist game-keeper' of the 19th century? . . . James Walvin, a renowned historian of black people in Britain, finds answers to this mystery in the lives of three men who contributed, sometimes unwittingly, to the demise of a seemingly unassailable evil. -- Daily Telegraph Much more than just a catalogue of horrors. . . . James Walvin is extraordinarily alert to the contradictions within the human heart. - Mail on Sunday Taken together, their stories provide a remarkably intimate insider's perspective on the slave trade, and give us some sense of its staggering human cost. -- Scotsman From the Trade Paperback edition.

Author Information

James Walvin taught for many years at the University of York. He has published widely on slavery and the slave trade. His book Black and White won the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize and his book on the Quakers was named as a 'Notable Book of the Year' by the New York Times. Walvin's book The People's Game has long been the standard work on the history of football.

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