Incomparable World [Hardcover]

S. I. Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

In the years just after the American Revolution, London was the unlikely refuge for thousands of black Americans who had fought for the British in exchange for a promise of freedom. Incomparable World is their story, an unconventional debut novel that follows the adventures of three African Americans who have escaped their master's lash only to find themselves outcast once again-but this time on the harsh streets of London's West End. After the British defeat, Buckram, Georgie George, and William Supple sail to London, preferring to attempt a new life there than face possible recapture and a return to slavery. Penniless, without any prospects for employment, and treated as outsiders by British society, they are forced into a life of hustling and petty crime. Their only hope for escape, Georgie George manages to convince them, is an outrageous robbery that would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Full of vivid prose and accurate period detail, Incomparable World is a rich historical thriller that reveals a forgotten chapter of American history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An engagingly slapstick but unfocused debut from a London journalist gains most of its interest from its setting: black London of the 1780s. Having fought for their freedom on the British side during the American Revolution, ex-slaves Buckram, Georgie George and William Supple are promised pensions but instead find dire poverty and misery on the West End. When the novel opens, hapless protagonist Buckram has just been released from jail, having been caught in one of Georgie's habitual bungled schemes. Back on the street, Buckram soon finds himself drawn into more shady business, distributing black pornography, another of hustler Georgie's ideas. "His was an incomparable world," Martin writes of Georgie. "His passion was in having the time of his life and no one could slight his desire"?perhaps the only sane reaction to a world in which he finds himself a victim everywhere. The kicker comes when Georgie involves all three men in the grandest caper of their lives: a scheme to swindle American slave-traders by posing to the consuls at the American embassy as African potentates. In awkward contrast to the madcap aspects of Buckram's tale, Martin draws pathos from the squalor of the poor man's London and the plights of exiles like Supple, who pines for his wife and children in America. With often anachronistic dialogue and attitudes, Martin's romping adventure story succeeds best as the late-20th-century dream of what it was like to be black in a time that turns out not to have been much different from ours.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After the American Revolutionary War, blacks who could prove they fought with the British were evacuated with the troops. Among them were Buckram and Georgie, the protagonists of Martin's intriguing if not wholly successful debut. Relegated to the slums of London, Georgie becomes King of the Beggars, fomenting illegal money-making schemes in which Buckram participates. Buckram serves two years in jail for one petty crime, but his only choice upon release is to trust Georgie again. Their next scheme gains Buckram enough money and dignity to leave the slums behind. Martin's characters are not fully developed, and an overabundance of minor figures leads to confusion. Real people appear to be mentioned to impress, serving mainly to show the contrast between the educated and the illiterate, and the British slang will be unfamiliar to American readers. But Martin's debut about a little-known period of African American history reads quickly, is well researched, shows interesting depth, and proves him a writer to watch. For larger fiction collections.?Andrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 213 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller; 1st edition (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080761436X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807614365
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,595,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Look at Life of Free Blacks in 18th Century U.K., December 30, 1999

By 

Conway Downing, Jr. (Newport News, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Incomparable World (Hardcover)

My wife and I love going to London each year. But as an African American, I had always been perplexed by my fascination with, and attraction to, this place. After all, my family is from the Tidewater area of southeastern Virginia, where black slaves first landed in 1619. What affinity then could I possibly have with a country that held the greatest market share in trafficking of the souls and flesh of my African ancestors?

S. I. Martin's Incomparable World has put it all in perspective. I was at the same time skeptical and intrigued when the first chapter began with black people kicking back in a pub in London in 1786. I then became rivited and entirely engrossed in the book when the characters recounted their experiences as soldiers in the British army during the Revolutionary War - running across the corn fields of the plantations where my ancestors lived.

I then realized the bond we African Americans share with our Londoner brothers and sisters thanks to S. I. Martin! The ensuing chapters then beautifully entwine your mind with a great story and adventure, and is truly enjoyable.

My thanks to my friend Gary Lee at The Washington Post who gave me a copy of the book and who has met the author.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning achievement, beautifully written, November 11, 1998

By 

Vaughn A. Carney (Vermont USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Incomparable World (Hardcover)

Author S.I. Martin mines a vein that has been largely ignored: black slaves in America who fought for the king in exchange for freedom and transport to Jamaica, Nova Scotia and England. Set in regency London, this story paints a vivid and moving picture of life among the destitute and, ergo, the desperate during this era. It is a powerful, evocative story of the resilience of the human spirit among violence and suffering so great yet so routine that nothing shocks. A wonderful book from a hugely talented new author.

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping and original novel, October 26, 2000

By 

Alan Fisk (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Incomparable World (Hardcover)

I greatly enjoyed "Incomparable World", with its vivid picture of eighteenth-century London. I won't soon forget its accurate and frightening description of the casual daily violence in its streets, and its equally accurate description of the many cultures that lived together.