Mastery, Tyranny, and Desire: Thomas Thistlewood and His Slaves in the Anglo-Jamaican World (Paperback)

by Trevor Burnard (Author) "On 24 April 1750 at about noon, the Flying Flamborough docked at Kingston, Jamaica, after a long and troublesome voyage from London..." (more)
Key Phrases: cowskin heroes, white egalitarianism, pen keeper, Breadnut Island, John Cope, Edward Long (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
As intimate a picture of African slavery in British America as we are ever likely to get. -- New York Review of Books, November 18, 2004

[This book] offers fresh insights. . . . Burnard's extraordinarily thoughtful rendering of Thomas Thistlewood suggest[s] how much more is to be learned. -- The Nation, November 29, 2004 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"A chilling and fascinating picture of the richest British colony in the New World. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in early American history and culture."
— Early American Literature

"Manages to paint an utterly convincing mental and physical portrait of [Thistlewood's] life and times by careful anthropology, imaginative reading and, not least, really good writing."
— History Today

A History Today Best History in 2008 Selection

"Morbidly fascinating and compelling. . . . Enable[s] us to understand more clearly the limited range of choices left for [people] of African descent to make under the tyranny of Thistlewood and his ilk."
— Itinerario

"A careful study of the social, intellectual, and cultural worlds of a brutal slave owner. . . . A vivid and penetrating portrait of late eighteenth-century Jamaica."
— American Historical Review

"Compelling. . . . Burnard skillfully explores Jamaican slave society at its zenith."
— Caribbean Studies

A subtle, compelling, and beautifully written study of the racial, social, and gendered power systems that characterized eighteenth-century Jamaica. (Betty Wood, Cambridge University)

Based on the 37-volume diary of Thomas Thistlewood (1721-1786), an English immigrant slave keeper and plantation owner in Jamaica, Burnard analyzes the structure and enforcement of power, the understandings of human rights, and the connections among class, race, gender, and sexuality in the Atlantic world.

Trevor Burnard's Mastery, Tyranny, and Desire is a detailed study based on a rather unusual and exhaustive diary of an English migrant who becomes a small slaveholder in eighteenth-century Jamaica. It probably contains more information than any single source on Jamaican society and on slaves and slavery, and provides many important insights into the lives of slaves and of whites. Given the subject and the materials, this book will be of interest to all concerned with the study of slavery as well as scholars of the Caribbean and of British Caribbean history. (Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (December 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807855251
• ISBN-13: 978-0807855256
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #335,771 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #24 in	Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Jamaica
  #82 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Special Groups > Minority Studies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars P. Stern, June 24, 2007

By	P. Stern - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This fascinating book is scrupulously researched and very well-written. It is also, in its fine-grained portrayal of the slave-holder Thomas Thistlewood, deeply disturbing. The paradox that Burnard explores is how Thistlewood, an amateur botanist and would-be student of the enlightenment, could also be a sadistic slave-holder in a viciously degrading society. It's extremely thought-provoking, and Burnard's own careful judgments seem consistently on the money. For me, this is an ideal work of academic history.

5.0 out of 5 stars An enlightening experience, December 30, 2008

By	D. Njoku (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

May the world be ever thankful for those who, like the author of this book, can dedicate their effort to enlightening us with such brilliant insight into a relatively small, but not insignificant, part of our past.
This is an experience, not quite removed from that revealed in "King Leopold's Ghost", from which those of us with a sense of responsibility can all benefit, and be encouraged to strive to make this world a better habitat for all of us who happen to share it.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, August 2, 2007

By	Christine Daniels (Lansing, Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an absolutely brilliant book, and I do not use that word lightly. It is must reading for anyone interested (even tangentially) in Caribbean history or indeed in fascinating history in general.