Recommendations from our site
“As the title suggests, this book is about slavery and Bristol and the author is relentless in outlining all the connections between the two. “The slave trade was called the Guinea trade. That is commemorated in one of Bristol’s streets being called Guinea Street.” We learn that between 1730 and 1746 Bristol merchants were responsible for organising 40% of all British voyages to Africa, and overall was responsible for trading around half a million people. Although this was very much a collective effort, the author goes through which individuals should be particularly held to account, and which not so much, investigating whether it matters if you’re a slave trader, or just using slavery to get rich in some other way. He starts with a quick survey of the pre-18th century period and takes it to up to 2020 and the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston. “ Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2020
Sophie Roell, Journalist
