Reviews
Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home by Richard Bell
jillianfontaine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
spb3's review against another edition
5.0
Stolen is a compelling history that is well-written, accessible, and will capture the attention of undergraduates, high-level high school students, and anyone interested in a story that details the brutal 19th-century United States Slave Economy.
Bell's book is a microhistory of five different free black boys, from different backgrounds and different ages, who are kidnapped, coffled (caravan) across the US to the deep south, and eventually attempt to escape back to their homes. For historians of the United States, there isn't a whole lot that is new here theoretically, but Bell does bring the Reverse Underground Railroad into painful visibility.
At the heart of this story, is the separation of families and the ability of individuals to make a difference. This will resonate with anyone struggling with the current political situation in border areas around the world. It will also be moving for parents of all backgrounds to read. Shining brightly in an otherwise dim story are the people who help out along the way. Abolitionists and people who fought injustice rather than participating in the illegal and legal slave trade illustrate clearly the importance of action in times of injustice.
Rick Bell's "Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home" is a skillfully written book that will appeal to wide audiences and hopefully be read by many.
You can hear my interview of Bell at www.hourofhistory.com
Bell's book is a microhistory of five different free black boys, from different backgrounds and different ages, who are kidnapped, coffled (caravan) across the US to the deep south, and eventually attempt to escape back to their homes. For historians of the United States, there isn't a whole lot that is new here theoretically, but Bell does bring the Reverse Underground Railroad into painful visibility.
At the heart of this story, is the separation of families and the ability of individuals to make a difference. This will resonate with anyone struggling with the current political situation in border areas around the world. It will also be moving for parents of all backgrounds to read. Shining brightly in an otherwise dim story are the people who help out along the way. Abolitionists and people who fought injustice rather than participating in the illegal and legal slave trade illustrate clearly the importance of action in times of injustice.
Rick Bell's "Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home" is a skillfully written book that will appeal to wide audiences and hopefully be read by many.
You can hear my interview of Bell at www.hourofhistory.com
jmcard's review against another edition
5.0
Unbelievable story about the Reverse Underground Railroad. I heard about the Reverse Underground Railroad many years ago - history always goes into the Underground Railroad- but I believe the Reverse Underground Railroad needs to be taught in school just as much as the Underground Railroad.
This read like a novel-absolutely flying through the pages-many parts horrific, some liberating, and some hope; hope for humanity, just a drip of hope, that is.
Free men and women abducted from the north and shipped south all for free labor so the fat slave owners could expand profits. On land that was stolen from the American Natives, mind you. Just another history lesson on how white men and their greed will do anything to line their pockets.
This read like a novel-absolutely flying through the pages-many parts horrific, some liberating, and some hope; hope for humanity, just a drip of hope, that is.
Free men and women abducted from the north and shipped south all for free labor so the fat slave owners could expand profits. On land that was stolen from the American Natives, mind you. Just another history lesson on how white men and their greed will do anything to line their pockets.
dreesreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was fabulously and thoroughly researched, and is yet another example of the amazing and fascinating stories out there, hiding in newspaper articles, city council minutes, and court records. At one time everyone knew of these stories due to the extensive newspaper coverage, and now no one does. These are the stories that get people interested in history, yet most students in middle and high school are still taught boring famous name-date-place history, rather than history involving regular people--tradesmen, apprentices, county officials, landowners, jury members, newsmen, abolitionist groups members, farmers, sailors, newspaper readers.
In this book Bell examines the story of 4 free black boys and 1 runaway kidnapped into slavery in Philadelphia in the 1820s. They, a woman legally purchased, and a woman kidnapped in Delaware were forced into a coffle overland to Mississippi with their small-time kidnappers. One boy (the literate one, unsurprisingly) was sold in Tuscaloosa. The rest were taken on. And then, in Mississippi, one of the boys was beaten to death by his kidnapper. And then another told his entire story to a potential purchaser.
And what did that man do? He told. He got the courts involved. The county official wrote to the mayor of Philadelphia, and in the end--well over a year later--the kidnap victims were freed and returned home.
The story itself is amazing--the cast of characters that made this seemingly impossible story happen. A nearly bankrupt wannabe plantation owner, county- and state-level government officials, the mayor of Philadelphia and his high constable, judges, two Methodists, an Alabama jury, a Scottish immigrant who traveled from Philadelphia to Alabama on his own dime to testify, and random people called in on favors--all came together to get the 4 surviving kidnap victims home. So many people I would not expect to care affected the outcome of this particular instance. Mayor Watson of Philadelphia tried to rescue other victims kidnapped by the same Delaware gang, but was largely unsuccessful. Solomon Northrup chronicled his own story in Twelve Years a Slave--and while the story Bell tells only covers about 2 years, the time lag before telephones, the internet, and truly reliable mail service is astonishing. The kidnap victims spent weeks trekking overland, and then months and months essentially living as and being treated as slaves (back pay was not awarded in their freedom suit), just waiting for mail to go back and forth.
The other amazing thing about this story is the sources. And the research it took to pull them together. Court minutes and documents, newspaper articles, pamphlets, journals, legislative records, minutes from abolition groups, and so many more primary sources--they are out there, in different states and counties and archives, just waiting to be combined with their counterparts from other places.
In this book Bell examines the story of 4 free black boys and 1 runaway kidnapped into slavery in Philadelphia in the 1820s. They, a woman legally purchased, and a woman kidnapped in Delaware were forced into a coffle overland to Mississippi with their small-time kidnappers. One boy (the literate one, unsurprisingly) was sold in Tuscaloosa. The rest were taken on. And then, in Mississippi, one of the boys was beaten to death by his kidnapper. And then another told his entire story to a potential purchaser.
And what did that man do? He told. He got the courts involved. The county official wrote to the mayor of Philadelphia, and in the end--well over a year later--the kidnap victims were freed and returned home.
The story itself is amazing--the cast of characters that made this seemingly impossible story happen. A nearly bankrupt wannabe plantation owner, county- and state-level government officials, the mayor of Philadelphia and his high constable, judges, two Methodists, an Alabama jury, a Scottish immigrant who traveled from Philadelphia to Alabama on his own dime to testify, and random people called in on favors--all came together to get the 4 surviving kidnap victims home. So many people I would not expect to care affected the outcome of this particular instance. Mayor Watson of Philadelphia tried to rescue other victims kidnapped by the same Delaware gang, but was largely unsuccessful. Solomon Northrup chronicled his own story in Twelve Years a Slave--and while the story Bell tells only covers about 2 years, the time lag before telephones, the internet, and truly reliable mail service is astonishing. The kidnap victims spent weeks trekking overland, and then months and months essentially living as and being treated as slaves (back pay was not awarded in their freedom suit), just waiting for mail to go back and forth.
The other amazing thing about this story is the sources. And the research it took to pull them together. Court minutes and documents, newspaper articles, pamphlets, journals, legislative records, minutes from abolition groups, and so many more primary sources--they are out there, in different states and counties and archives, just waiting to be combined with their counterparts from other places.
kdwilliams's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating story about the Reverse Underground Railroad. A subject I did not know much about and this book really educated me on the horrors of slave traders making a profit off of free blacks that are stolen from the north and taken south to sell into slavery, most of them children. This book is about 5 boys who were stolen and sold into slavery and fought hard for their freedom, including testifying in court and their testimony was actually heard. A quote on the last page summed it up well "Their sufferings also reshaped the antislavery movement by demonstrating the emotional power of placing the sorrows of separated families and tormented children center stage". Tough subject, but a good read.
amina2002's review
3.0
I have learned so much about the reverse underground railroad. It was important to read the stories of what happened to these boys and other people's stories which were scattered in between. However I was thinking this book was just going to be about the what happened to these boys. Instead the stories were interrupted multiple times which prolonged the story for no reason.
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