Customer Reviews
A great non-mainstream Introduction. - By: Mr. S. Bamkin, 15 Apr 2008 
This book attempts to cover a vast range of aspects on the topic of the abolition of slaveryin Britain. This is a plusin my opinion if treated as an introduction - it is easy to read, is not overly detailed but provides 20 facts per page. The differencein this book is the range of perspectives covered, from the British abolitionist & abstainers viewpoints to the Africans' own involvementin progressing abolition which is foundin many modern accounts, to the politics of African abstainers then to continental & American positions on the topic even discussing pre-Transatlantic Slave Trade Africa. This frames continuous hints throughout that Europe was directly responsible for the relative poverty of Africa.
In a quasi-academic style, citing a few sources butin a (not overly) subjective manner: many well-known names are re-appraised - or sullied as the case often is by their involvement with the Trade. The sections on the under-appreciated Quakers abolition movements are very interesting & the very small sidetracks taken are fascinating.
One criticism may be that time & topic occasionally jump without informing the reader & points are sometimes repeated to provide emphasis which I found somewhat irritating.
A great introduction.
A balanced account, well written - By: S. Wilberforce, 31 Jan 2007 
Britain's involvement with slavery continued for 200 years, & its legacy for another two hundred -in the countries of Africa, among the Affro-carribean community. &in the wealth British society gained from it. This book gives the story of Africa before slavery, its beginnings under the Portuguese, & Britain's leading rolein it after the Armada was defeated. The struggle against slavery was strongest among Africans & enslaved people - on board rebellions, attacks on slaversin Africa, & the several successful rebellionsin the Carribean; & the work of some highly dedicated & organised peoplein Britain - Wilberforce, Clarkson, Equiano & the Quakers, who invented the popular political movement - boycotts of slave-produced sugar, parliamentary lobbying, petitions, posters & medallions; which all served to erode Britain's acceptance of
slavery. This is the most balanced account I have read.
A well-researched and thorough history of the British Slave Trade - By: Helen Hancox, 20 Jan 2007 Richard Reddie's book is a well-researched & broadin scope history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade which existed for 276 years. He explores the events leading up to the slave trade, painting a picture of a cultured & learned Africa which became a pointin the triangular trade route - from Europe firearms, alcohol, brass, copper & manufactured goods were transported to Africa; slaves were takenin Africa & transported by the `Middle Passage' to the West Indies & America; then sugar, tobacco, rum & molasses from America were transported to Europe. Research suggests up to 15 million enslaved Africans died because of this trade & their treatment by the Europeans makes very sobering reading - especially as Christians weren't only those trying to abolish the trade but were often those who participated & benefited from it.
William Wilberforce & the other abolitionists, such as John Newton, Thomas Clarkson & the freed slave Olaudah Equiano are shown as people who worked tirelessly against the slave trade but also as people who were fallible & whose 19th century view of Africans unable to determine their own lives feels rather uncomfortable to us today. The book is an informative & yet sobering read about an alternative holocaust, onein which many Christians colluded & whose revenues founded some of our largest institutions. It makes for uncomfortable reading but it is an aspect of our history which must not be ignored.
