meganhueble's review
5.0
Fascinating and necessary look at the inseparable histories of business and enslavement.
amydavid's review against another edition
4.0
This was very thorough and well-researched, but I was expecting more of a thru-line connecting these practices to those of modern management.
schomj's review
5.0
Somehow I never wrote a review to this? Maybe I just didn't know what to say.
It took my ideas about Taylorism and management and slavery and mixed them together in a way that I continue to find horrifying and infuriating. I want everyone to read this, so we can be angry together.
CW: in-depth discussions of how dehumanizing slavery is, so all the content warnings basically
It took my ideas about Taylorism and management and slavery and mixed them together in a way that I continue to find horrifying and infuriating. I want everyone to read this, so we can be angry together.
CW: in-depth discussions of how dehumanizing slavery is, so all the content warnings basically
mlinsey's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.75
Hands down the best book I read this year.
kukushka's review
5.0
I found this to be quite an enlightening look at both the evolution of modern bookkeeping practices (it was interesting to see early forms of the types of spreadsheets I use every day), as well as the dystopian surveillance state nightmare that was North American slavery.
It makes a good case for slave-based economies being at the forefront of innovation, rather than backwards holdouts. And it's a good lens to re-examine the assumption that progress is, by its nature, equitably advantageous.
It makes a good case for slave-based economies being at the forefront of innovation, rather than backwards holdouts. And it's a good lens to re-examine the assumption that progress is, by its nature, equitably advantageous.
8little_paws's review
4.0
This book is exactly what it sounds like--a historical business book that goes into the bookkeeping and business analytics of plantations holding slaves. It details the types of ledgers used to track daily cotton production and how each slave was valued and recorded on the balance sheet. It compares these metrics to non slaveholding industries of the same time period and then tracks how bookkeeping changed after emancipation. Interesting stuff if you've got a background in basic accounting but if you lack that I'd skip this book.
hyfen's review against another edition
5.0
Couldn't recommend more highly. A study on how quantitative systems can be used to rationalize and sanitize horror. Interesting to read right after finishing Eichmann in Jerusalem.
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