Masters, Slaves, and Subjects

"A well-researched and well-written book. . . . A careful reading of sources. . . . An intriguing final chapter. . . . A worthy addition to the scholarship begun by Peter Wood and Edmund Morgan, it is a must for libraries with collections on slavery and the Colonial South."—Choice
"This book sheds new light on the nature and complexity of the master-slave relationship in low-country South Carolina, circa 1760. . . . Olwell's is an excellent book. Not only does it explicate the various ways in which slavery shaped colonial South Carolina and vice versa, it demonstrates one way that history might be written as both a study and a story."—Thomas J. Little, The North Carolina Historical Review. January, 2000.
"Masters, Slaves, and Subjects is an exceptionally fine study of the interplay between slaves and masters. . . Much of this story is familiar, but Olwell also covers new ground, adds rich detail, and reminds us constantly of the slaves' agency and resistance in the everyday tug of war between the dominant and the subordinate. His eloquent study contributes much to our understanding of the 'problem' of South Carolina. . . .Master, Slaves, and Subjects is a superb book."—Jerome Nadelhaft, University of Maine. William and Mary Quarterly, April 2001
"Olwell's book is engaging and well written. . . Olwell's book can be recommended as an interesting study of slavery in colonial and revolutionary South Carolina."—Labor History
"Robert Olwell's book is one of the most insightful and interesting books on early America to appear in some time. . . All in all, this is a first-rate work in cultural history. Gracefully written, well researched, and ingeniously plotted, the study marks the debut of a prodigious young talent in the field of early American history."—Peter A. Coclanis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. American Historical Review, June 2000.
"Familiar primary sources are fresh in Olwell's hands. . . This book is . . . engagingly, even elegantly written.—Journal of American History
"Olwell blazes a new path by showing how South Carolina's colonial status influenced the development of slavery and how slavery altered or modified English institutions within a colonial setting. He considers four pillars of colonial society: the church, the law, the market, and patriarchy, and shows how each was peculiarly affected in a new environment in association with a strange institution that became normative."—Daniel C. Littlefield, author of Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in South Carolina