The American Crucible
Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Verso Books
Published:6th Aug '13
Should be back in stock very soon
How slavery shaped the market economy and abolitionists gave us our ideals
A landmark history of the rise, abolition, and legacy of slavery in the New World.For over three centuries, slavery in the Americas fuelled the growth of capitalism. But the stirrings of a revolutionary age in the late eighteenth century challenged this "peculiar institution" and set the scene for great acts of emancipation in Haiti in 1804, in the United States in the 1860s and Brazil in the 1880s. Blackburn argues that the anti-slavery movement helped forge the political and social ideals we live by today.
A marvelous book-insightful and stimulating. -- Stanley Engerman, University of Rochester
This is a richly scholarly book ... an important contribution to our understanding of the shaping of the modern world. -- James Walvin * BBC History Magazine *
Poses a challenge for the political future as well as a bold reappraisal of the historical past. -- Stephen Howe * Independent *
The finest one-volume history of the rise and fall of modern slavery. -- Eric Foner * The Nation *
Magisterial history of transatlantic slavery. * Times Literary Supplement *
- Short-listed for Frederick Douglas Book Prize 2012
ISBN: 9781781681060
Dimensions: 235mm x 154mm x 28mm
Weight: 724g
520 pages