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A review by lucasmiller
The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights by Robin Blackburn
5.0
This is an expansive volume. That covers the entirety of the Atlantic slavery from 1492-1888, as well as covering many topics connected to the legacy of slavery and emancipation into the 21st century. Reading it at the steady pace I did (about 23 pages a day) still made the book seem unwieldy in its vast array of topics.
I feel like I'll return to this work like for reference often. I particularly value the way the author periodizes the history of slavery and emancipation. It was also very eye opening to read a more transnational account of Atlantic slavery giving equal weight to Slavery in The United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
I'm not sure that the Human Rights of the subtitle earns its place there in the text. While the concept of Human Rights is sprinkled throughout the books (with lots of references to Lynn Hunt's Inventing Human Rights) it never feels very systematic until maybe the last ten pages of the concluding chapter.
Overall, this book complicated everything I know about slavery and emancipation. It has set before me at least a dozen books culled from the footnotes that I believe deserve a full reading, and has sparked a legitimate interest in seeking out more British leftist Historians and reading the New Left Review. Recommended.
I feel like I'll return to this work like for reference often. I particularly value the way the author periodizes the history of slavery and emancipation. It was also very eye opening to read a more transnational account of Atlantic slavery giving equal weight to Slavery in The United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
I'm not sure that the Human Rights of the subtitle earns its place there in the text. While the concept of Human Rights is sprinkled throughout the books (with lots of references to Lynn Hunt's Inventing Human Rights) it never feels very systematic until maybe the last ten pages of the concluding chapter.
Overall, this book complicated everything I know about slavery and emancipation. It has set before me at least a dozen books culled from the footnotes that I believe deserve a full reading, and has sparked a legitimate interest in seeking out more British leftist Historians and reading the New Left Review. Recommended.