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Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
by Hochschild, Adam
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0618104690
- ISBN 13
- 9780618104697
- Seller
-
Santa Barbara, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. viii, 468 pages, illustrations; 24 cm. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Fine DJ. National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction, 2005. "We cannot imagine citizen activism without boycotts, mass mailings, political posters, lapel buttons, or media campaigns. Yet all these weapons were invented or perfected by a printer, a lawyer, a cleric, several merchants, and a musician who first convened in a London bookshop in 1787. Their goal: to end slavery in the largest empire on earth. They combined every devotion with uncanny skill at stoking public opinion. Within five years, more than 300,000 Britons were boycotting the chief slave-made product, sugar, and London"s smart set was sporting antislavery badges created by Josiah Wedgwood. This crusade was spearheaded by a striking array of personalities, among them Olaudah Equiano, an ex-slave whose memoir made him famous; John Newton, a former slave ship captain who wrote 'Amazing Grace'; and Thomas Clarkson, a pioneering investigative journalist who worked for fifty years to see the day when a slave whip and chains were formally buried in a Jamaican churchyard. Like Hochschild's classic King Leopold's Ghost, Bury the Chains abounds in atmosphere, high drama, and nuanced portraits of epic heroes and villains. Again Hochschild gives a little-celebrated historical watershed its due at last." - Publisher.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 8vo.
Synopsis
From the author of the prize-winning King Leopold's Ghost comes a taut, thrilling account of the first grass-roots human rights campaign, which freed hundreds of thousands of slaves around the world. In 1787, twelve men gathered in a London printing shop to pursue a seemingly impossible goal: ending slavery in the largest empire on earth. Along the way, they would pioneer most of the tools citizen activists still rely on today, from wall posters and mass mailings to boycotts and lapel pins. This talented group combined a hatred of injustice with uncanny skill in promoting their cause. Within five years, more than 300,000 Britons were refusing to eat the chief slave-grown product, sugar; London's smart set was sporting antislavery badges created by Josiah Wedgwood; and the House of Commons had passed the first law banning the slave trade. However, the House of Lords, where slavery backers were more powerful, voted down the bill. But the crusade refused to die, fueled by remarkable figures like Olaudah Equiano, a brilliant ex-slave who enthralled audiences throughout the British Isles; John Newton, the former slave ship captain who wrote "Amazing Grace"; Granville Sharp, an eccentric musician and self-taught lawyer; and Thomas Clarkson, a fiery organizer who repeatedly crisscrossed Britain on horseback, devoting his life to the cause. He and his fellow activists brought slavery in the British Empire to an end in the 1830s, long before it died in the United States. The only survivor of the printing shop meeting half a century earlier, Clarkson lived to see the day when a slave whip and chains were formally buried in a Jamaican churchyard. Like Hochschild's classic King Leopold's Ghost, Bury the Chains abounds in atmosphere, high drama, and nuanced portraits of unsung heroes and colorful villains. Again Hochschild gives a little-celebrated historical watershed its due at last.
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Details
- Bookseller
- LEFT COAST BOOKS
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 111051
- Title
- Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
- Author
- Hochschild, Adam
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0618104690
- ISBN 13
- 9780618104697
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Company
- Place of Publication
- Boston and New York
- Date Published
- 2005
- Size
- 8vo
- LCCN
- 2004054091
Terms of Sale
LEFT COAST BOOKS
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About the Seller
LEFT COAST BOOKS
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Santa Barbara, California
About LEFT COAST BOOKS
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