ebooks The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Marcus Rediker’s The Slave Ship: A Human History examines ...By Jake ZirkleMarcus Rediker’s The Slave Ship: A Human History examines the floating dungeons that transported millions of Africans to the Americas. Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh; Marcus Rediker illustrates the horrific truths of the slave trade. Rediker’s subtitle to this book; A Human History; exemplifies one of the main purposes of this book; which is to highlight the humanity of those taken from their homes and forced upon these ships. Rediker’s book is extremely well-written and it is utterly gripping. The manner in which he conveys the various stories of slaves; slavers; and other involved parties is enthralling. This work is very heavy and can sometimes be hard to read. The numerous acts of brutality against the enslaved are simply horrific. Some of the stories he tells are reminiscent of those from the holocaust. Rediker does a phenomenal job in capturing life in the “wooden world”. The use of personal accounts of life on the slave ships help paint a reliable picture of the reality aboard these vessels. By combining stories from slaves; captains; seaman; and merchants; it is possible to reconstruct the conditions aboard the ships by looking for similarities between the stories. Rediker understands this and uses an almost overwhelming amount of first-hand accounts to drive home the truth of these ships; which helped shaped the modern Western world. This book is important because it reconnects Africa with the greater Atlantic world. Modern Atlantic histories are generally concerned with Europe and North America; but it is clear that Africa needs to be included in these histories. Allison Games writes; “The comparative absence of Africa in conceptualizations of the Atlantic is a consequence both of the dominance of Atlantic history by historians of the North Atlantic and of enduring Eurocentrism”. (Games) Marcus Rediker has created a tremendous work that is filled with a treasure trove of information. While it is a bit disjointed; the quality of the research far outweighs the minor structural problems. This book highlights the brutality and the horrors of the middle passage and the struggles those imprisoned onboard faced.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Great Read on a Controversial TopicBy SykoutI read the kindle edition; and being a student of history this book contains excellent descriptive stories of the horrid experiences on board the slave ship. Rediker paints a vivid scene of the death machine known as the slave ship; and this human variable affecting slave mortality is made well known through his specific examples of the evil treatment on the slaves.This title is a must read for anyone interested on the topic; and is a excellent diversion from those historians and statisticians who tend to manipulate the numbers and the bogus statistics in order to conclude their arguments about the specifics of mortality on board slave ships. Rediker reveals to the reader that not all ships were the same; and that goes the same for the crew. Human involvement during this time was the quintessential variable impacting the slave trade and that is made crystal clear by Rediker's gruesome; descriptive writing.This is a definite must have for anyone's collection on this material.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Numbers don't lie. And Rdiker's book actually gave me ...By CrystalNumbers don't lie. And Rdiker's book actually gave me more insight into my dominant U.S. heritage: if 11;213;000 Africans were shipped to the Caribbean and South "America" with only 500;000 or so of those landing on "U.S." shores where did all the other people come from to make up the U.S. slave population come from? They didn't breed a couple of million people in forty years now did they? Hmm.This is a brillantly written account The Middle Passage factory.