The Slave Ship: A Human History - Hardcover

Rediker, Marcus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 071956302X ISBN 13: 9780719563027

Publisher: Viking, 2007

Synopsis

The missing link in the chain of American slavery

For three centuries slave ships carted millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation system, but little of the ships that made it all possible. In The Slave Ship, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker draws on thirty years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks. He reconstructs in chilling detail the lives, deaths, and terrors of captains, sailors, and the enslaved aboard a “floating dungeon” trailed by sharks. From the young African kidnapped from his village and sold into slavery by a neighboring tribe to the would-be priest who takes a job as a sailor on a slave ship only to be horrified at the evil he sees to the captain who relishes having “a hell of my own,” Rediker illuminates the lives of people who were thought to have left no trace.
This is a tale of tragedy and terror, but also an epic of resilience, survival, and the creation of something entirely new. Marcus Rediker restores the slave ship to its rightful place alongside the plantation as a formative institution of slavery, a place where a profound and still haunting history of race, class, and modern economy was made.

About this title

About the Author

Marcus Rediker is a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He has held numerous fellowships and lectured around the world. He is the author of five books, including (with Peter Linebaugh) The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic.

From AudioFile

The chilling accounts of eighteenth-century slave ships written by captains, sailors, and the captives themselves depict more cruelty and suffering than fiction could imagine. One sadistic captain chopped off the extremities of rebellious captives, ending with the head, to quell any uprisings by others. Narrator David Drummond pronounces the African names, places, and tribes with ease, and his precise speech enunciates every word. He separates the authorŐs writing from the stilted English of the time with a beginning pause, but gives no clue when the quotes end. The frequent switches would have been cleaner had he employed some accents or voices for the hundreds of personal accounts. Another improvement would have had Drummond reading the poetry with more expression. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 071956302X
• ISBN 13: 9780719563027
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448