Saul David
Cry Freedom
Bury the Chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery
By Adam Hochschild
Macmillan 431pp £20 order from our bookshop
Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees
By Caroline Moorehead
Chatto & Windus 302pp £12.99 order from our bookshop
On 22 May 1787 twelve men – nine Quakers and three Anglicans – met at a central London printing shop to form a committee whose sole aim was the abolition of the British slave trade. Within twenty years, despite the opposition of the powerful West Indian lobby, they had achieved their objective. In 1834 the existing slaves of the British Empire were emancipated. It is an extraordinary tale, and Adam Hochschild, prize-winning author of King Leopold’s Ghost, does it full justice.
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