Fragile Empire

'Through an impressive array of empirical evidence, Justin Roberts has expanded the field of Atlantic slavery and cements Indian Ocean bondage as an area worthy of scholarly attention. As a result, Roberts has written a tour de force. This is trans-oceanic and trans-imperial history at its best.' Afua Cooper, Dalhousie University
'This masterful work explores the astonishing fragility of England's first tropical colonies, demonstrating that from Jamaica to Madras to Sumatra, the success of England's empire was dependent upon enslaved labor.' Simon P. Newman, author of A New World of Labor: The Development of Plantation Slavery in the British Atlantic
'This is a fascinating and masterly global history of the early English tropical slave empire. From rich comparisons of the Caribbean, Africa, India, St. Helena and Sumatra, Roberts makes a strong case for the existence of diverse forms of bondage, the growing influence of the English Caribbean slavery model and the incredibly fragile and chaotic nature of the early English empire.' Dexnell Peters, The University of the West Indies
'A pioneering new work that masterfully explains the makings of racial slavery across the globe. This book will be required reading for anyone who wants to understand how and why such a brutal system of slavery emerged in Britain's first empire during the seventeenth century.' Nicholas Radburn, author of Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade