Slavery has been a common feature of many human societies. Our coverage of it focuses largely on the role it played in the Atlantic economy in the early modern period. The legacy of the enslavement of people of African descent in the Americas is still with us, both in terms of widespread social and economic disadvantage for people of Africa heritage throughout the Americas and in the persistence of the racialism that underpinned slavery in the first place.
The historian, William Pettigrew, of Lancaster University chooses his best books on the slave trade itself. And the Anglo-Nigerian historian Professor David Olusoga chooses his best books on racism and slavery, covering not only the Atlantic trade, but also contrasting that with the slave trade in East Africa and the Islamic world and how the two differed. Racism was foundational to the Atlantic trade and Francisco Bethencourt chooses his best books on racism and how to write history. All three of these historians choose the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative as one of their five books.
The slave trade and its role in the Atlantic is also addressed by Bernard Bailyn on his best books on Atlantic history.
Many of our interviews on the US also touch on racial politics in the United States, and the role and legacy of slavery in the country
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1
The Interesting Narrative
by Olaudah Equiano -
2
Capitalism and Slavery
by Eric Williams -
3
The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas
by David Eltis -
4
Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving Port 1727-1892
by Robin Law -
5
American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia
by Edmund S Morgan
The best books on The Slave Trade, recommended by William A. Pettigrew
The best books on The Slave Trade, recommended by William A. Pettigrew
In the 17th and 18th century millions of Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas as slaves. This trade took place at the same time as ‘liberal’ ideas about the importance of human freedom took root in Great Britain and North America. Here, historian William A. Pettigrew recommends five books to help understand the slave trade, how it was established, why it flourished and why it was eventually abolished.
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1
Bury the Chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery
by Adam Hochschild -
2
Islam’s Black Slaves
by Ronald Segal -
3
Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle
by Leith Mullings, Manning Marable & Sophie Spencer-Wood -
4
The Interesting Narrative
by Olaudah Equiano -
5
Kolyma Tales
by Varlam Shalamov
The best books on Race and Slavery, recommended by David Olusoga
The best books on Race and Slavery, recommended by David Olusoga
Race is a real and powerful force and one he has spent his adult life trying to understand, says Anglo-Nigerian historian, writer and producer, David Olusoga. He talks us through five books on the tragedy of slavery—from the horrors of the gulag, to the plantations of Virginia, to the Islamic slave trade.
The best books on Racism and How to Write History, recommended by Francisco Bethencourt
Racism is not innate but emerges under special conditions, says the King’s College professor and author of the sweeping history Racisms: From the Crusades to the Twentieth Century. He chooses five books that inspired him.
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1
Atlantic History
by Bernard Bailyn -
2
Empires of the Atlantic World
by JH Elliott -
3
Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
by David Eltis and David Richardson -
4
The British Atlantic World, 1500-1800
by David Armitage and Michael J Braddick (editors) -
5
Soundings in Atlantic History
by Bernard Bailyn (editor)
