Customer Reviews

Incomparable World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.