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Title details for The Slave Ship by Marcus Rediker - Available

The Slave Ship

A Human History

by Marcus Rediker
David Drummond
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the New World. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation complex, 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 to the slavers by a neighboring tribe, to the would-be priest who takes a job as a sailor on a slave ship only to be horrified by 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, something that could only be called African American. Rediker restores the slave ship to its rightful place alongside the plantation as a formative institution of slavery, as a place where a profound and still haunting history of race, class, and modern capitalism was made.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 15, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400124794
      • File size: 378084 KB
      • Duration: 13:07:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 1290
    • Text Difficulty: 10-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The chilling accounts of eighteenth-century slave ships written by captains, sailors, and the captives themselves depict more cruelty and suffering than fiction could imagine. One sadistic captain chopped off the extremities of rebellious captives, ending with the head, to quell any uprisings by others. Narrator David Drummond pronounces the African names, places, and tribes with ease, and his precise speech enunciates every word. He separates the author's writing from the stilted English of the time with a beginning pause, but gives no clue when the quotes end. The frequent switches would have been cleaner had he employed some accents or voices for the hundreds of personal accounts. Another improvement would have had Drummond reading the poetry with more expression. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 30, 2007
      In this groundbreaking work, historian and scholar Rediker considers the relationships between the slave ship captain and his crew, between the sailors and the slaves, and among the captives themselves as they endured the violent, terror-filled and often deadly journey between the coasts of Africa and America. While he makes fresh use of those who left their mark in written records (Olaudah Equiano, James Field Stanfield, John Newton), Rediker is remarkably attentive to the experiences of the enslaved women, from whom we have no written accounts, and of the common seaman, who he says was “a victim of the slave trade... and a victimizer.” Regarding these vessels as a “strange and potent combination of war machine, mobile prison, and factory,” Rediker expands the scholarship on how the ships “not only delivered millions of people to slavery, prepared them for it.” He engages readers in maritime detail (how ships were made, how crews were fed) and renders the archival (letters, logs and legal hearings) accessible. Painful as this powerful book often is, Rediker does not lose sight of the humanity of even the most egregious participants, from African traders to English merchants.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from May 15, 2008
      In "Slave Ship", University of Pittsburgh history professor Rediker employs the slave vessel as the central metaphor in the exploration of the African diaspora, the roots of capitalism, and the creation of race. As a scholar of "history from below," Rediker juxtaposes the horrific machinations of the slave trade with, as the book's subtitle indicates, the daily dramas of the industry's participantscaptain, sailor, and slave. The strength of Rediker's narrativebeyond the gruesome explication of the ship's inherent terroris the use of the ship as representative of a factory that commodifies humanity and a dungeon of racial subjugation that creates a subspecies. As a result of the Atlantic journey, the slave is dehumanized and therefore ready for use as an implement of industry and agriculture. This work is carefully and intelligently read by David Drummond, a former winner of an "AudioFile" Earphones Award. His succinct enunciation, warm tone, and precise yet subtly compassionate interpretation enhances Rediker's already exemplary book. Strongly recommended for libraries of all sizes and an integral addition to any collection focused on the history of the African slave trade. [An "LJ" Best Book of 2007; also available as downloadable audio from Audible.com.Ed.]Christopher Rager, Pasadena, CA

      Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1290
  • Text Difficulty:10-12

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