|
| The Slave Ship: A Human History | 
 enlarge | Author: Marcus Rediker
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $6.63
You Save: $21.32 (76%)
New (42) Used (31) from $6.63
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 35857
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0670018236
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.362096
EAN: 9780670018239
ASIN: 0670018236
Publication Date: October 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The missing link in the chain of American slavery
For three centuries slave ships carted millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation system, but little of the ships that made it all possible. In The Slave Ship, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker draws on thirty years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks. He reconstructs in chilling detail the lives, deaths, and terrors of captains, sailors, and the enslaved aboard a floating dungeon trailed by sharks. From the young African kidnapped from his village and sold into slavery by a neighboring tribe to the would-be priest who takes a job as a sailor on a slave ship only to be horrified at the evil he sees to the captain who relishes having a hell of my own, Rediker illuminates the lives of people who were thought to have left no trace.
This is a tale of tragedy and terror, but also an epic of resilience, survival, and the creation of something entirely new. Marcus Rediker restores the slave ship to its rightful place alongside the plantation as a formative institution of slavery, a place where a profound and still haunting history of race, class, and modern economy was made.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Fasinating epic......................... October 14, 2007
38 out of 41 found this review helpful
The slave ship gives a fascinating forte in the archives of slavery and the making of modern history. It was a vehicle, transporting captives whose labor was necessary for America's economic survival; it was a factory, where African men, women, and children were transformed into "cargo"; and it was an instrument of war, complete with fearsome weapons with the capability to destroy any who might challenge its gruesome mission. In Marcus Rediker's book it explores these historical uses of the slave ship by drawing on an astonishing array of archival material, revealing the voices of slaves, common sailors, pirates, captains, and traders in all their complex humanity. Rediker's talent as a writer and a historian is to bring this kind of disparate information into one solid, available and enthralling narrative.
 Horrific Account of a Horrific Business December 30, 2007
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
Marcus Rediker subtitles "The Slave Ship" as "A Human History", and that is an accurate description of its focus and method -- and its strengths and most evident weakness. The book has as its primary focus British and American slave ships of the 18th century (when the transAtlantic slave trade was at its height and before it was outlawed), and how it shaped and warped those who sailed, voluntarily or involuntarily, aboard those vessels. Redicker constructs his history by drawing upon first-hand accounts, mostly written by seamen and ships' captains, but also some from merchants and even a few slaves. He presents the horrific details of the psychological, social, and cultural impact of such a horrific business. It is said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Then, slave ships certainly proved -- especially perhaps to their captains -- an enormously corrupting activity. Even those who considered themselves as humane and compassionate people were inevitably stained and warped by the experience. But for all of Rediker's obvious (and sometimes perhaps too obvious) horror at what happened, I think the book could have been even stronger and better if the author had provided more numbers and statistics to help quantify the enormity of the events; he makes passing references to studies of the numbers of Africans enslaved and the number who died in the process, but nowhere are these figures clearly presented for an overall portrait.
The book makes for unsettling reading, with murder, rape, and casual brutality leaping off nearly every page (and, as Redicker demonstrates, the brutality was not confined to use against the slaves alone, but also the crews). One aspect that I had never encountered before was that not infrequently slaves being transported from Africa across the Atlantic were pressed into service to supplement the crew in sailing the ship and even fighting off enemy privateers and often (this reminded me of tales from Holocaust death camps) they acted as "trustees" to keep other slaves in line.
Fans of the recent movie "Amazing Grace" will be interested to see that several historical characters from that film make appearances in the pages of this book, including Captain John Newton, Thomas Clarkson, and Olaudah Equiano.
An educational experience November 24, 2007
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
An excruciatingly agonising experience. An eye opener for anyone who thinks the slave trade and slavery were "not so bad after all." It is a pity that books such as these are not made required reading for all high school level students. They would come away with an altogether better appreciation for the contribution of African Americans to the wealth and prosperity of America.
Got A Real Feel For The Horrors Of Slavery December 5, 2007
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
I've read about slavery before but I never got a real sense of how horrible the experience was until I read Slave Ship. I never knew that 10 to 12 million people were captured in Africa and brought to the Western Hemisphere over a 400 year period. This gripping book focuses on the experience of being captured by fellow Africans and taken as prisoner until reaching the coast and the horrifying realization that this was the point of no return. Then the horrific experience of being held in chains in the hold of a ship as it crossed the ocean. The utter brutality of the while slavers, the dreadful conditions suffered by crew, most dead within a year
Marcus Rediker is not only a fine historian but also a wonderful writer to make the experience come alive.
the honest truth November 21, 2007
8 out of 15 found this review helpful
This book was outstanding and the author deserves some award. The history he has chronicled is required for all who want some understanding of the American system we now live under. The capitalists system then and now has victims and bullys. The English kept copious notes of their outrageous escapades, and the author, Rediker, captures the most scintillating perspective of the participants, including slaves and traffickers. The world is full of histories of oppression, but the book has captured the horrific nature of then existing English/American terrorism. The abolitionist were truly to be applauded but it seems so little so late. Nevertheless the book is excellent, moving, compelling and highly recommended by me because the historical perspective is overwhelmingly brilliant. Great source work and detail.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
