The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823 [Paperback]

David Brion Davis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195126718 | ISBN-13: 978-0195126716 | Publication Date: April 15, 1999 | Edition: 2 Sub

David Brion Davis's books on the history of slavery reflect some of the most distinguished and influential thinking on the subject to appear in the past generation. The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, the sequel to Davis's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture and the second volume of a proposed trilogy, is a truly monumental work of historical scholarship that first appeared in 1975 to critical acclaim both academic and literary. This reprint of that important work includes a new preface by the author, in which he situates the book's argument within the historiographic debates of the last two decades.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution by David Brion Davis is a work of majestic scale, written with great skill. It explores the growing consciousness, during a half century of revolutionary change, of the oldest and most extreme form of human exploitation. Concentrating on the Anglo-American experience, the historian also pursues his theme wherever it leads in western culture. His book is a distinguished example of historical scholarship and art."--From the citation for the 1975 National Book Award

"In...The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture, David Brion Davis displayed his mastery not only of a vast source of material, but also of the highly complex, frequently contradictory factors that influenced opinion on slavery. He has now followed this up with a study of equal quality....No one has written a book about the abolition of slavery that carries the conviction of Professor Davis's book. And this rich and powerful book will, I am sure, stand the test of time--scholarly, brilliant in analysis, beautifully written."--J. H. Plumb, The New York Times Book Review

"As Davis's work demonstrates, good intellectual history is absolutely essential for an adequate understanding of the past; its proper subject is the way flesh-and-blood human beings make sense out of their world and try to gain some kind of mastery over it....It is obvious that Davis's interpretation was not imposed on his sources but resulted from a struggle to give them whatever structure and coherence seemed most consistent with the data itself and with the best recent historical work in the field. Nor does he attempt to explain all responses to the problem of slavery as ideological....Indeed the greatest strength of the book arises from its ability to provide a convincing general interpretation while doing full justice to a variety of historical experiences and perspectives....It is hard to imagine anyone going over the same ground for a long time."--George M. Fredrickson, The New York Review of Books

"A worthy successor to Davis's magnificent The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture. Together, these volumes represent the high point of scholarship in this field. They will undoubtedly remain at the center of discussion for many decades and perhaps beyond."--Edward Genovese

"One of the many remarkable things about this book is that it equals and even exceeds the level of scholarship and history established by the author's preceding volume."--C. Vann Woodward

About the Author

David Brion Davis is Sterling Professor of History at Yale University. A former President of the Organization of American Historians, he has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Bancroft Prize, and the American Historical Association's Beveridge Award. His most recent book is The Boisterous Sea of Liberty: A Documentary History of America from Discovery through the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 1998, with Steven Mintz).

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 Sub edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195126718
• ISBN-13: 978-0195126716
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What We Know is What He Taught Us, August 11, 2005

By 

Buce (Palookaville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823 (Paperback)

It's odd that (as of this writing) David Brion Davis' "Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revoution" has no Amazon reviews. Granted that it is not young: my copy bears a puublication date of 1975, which is positively Jurassic in terms of current academic writing (there is a later edition). But that is, perhaps, the point it is Davis (in company with his sometimes Yale colleague, Vann Woodward) who taught us what we know about slavery-and if we know more than they did, it is because of what they taught us. Davis is what our professors read when they went to school-perhaps even more, our professors' professors. The giveaway is in the Amazon listing of books that cite this book. At this writing, there are 145: skim the list and you see a virtually comprehensive library of modern academic writing on the subject.

Davis is not always a delight to read. His style is discursive, somewht elliptical, after the manner of a beloved senior professor in his seminar room (his discussion of Somerset's Case is maddening in its indirection). He can seem to sprawl: indeed it is precisely this tendency to sprawl which leads me to prefer "Age of Revolution" to its companion piece, "The Problem of Slalvery in Western Culture." But the difficulty of pinning him down means also that he doesn't lend himself to soundbytes or oversimplifications.

There are other indispensable names in the literature of slavery: Fogel and Engerman, surely, and Eugene Genovese (and, I suppose, Faulkner's `Absalom, Absalom!"). But any shelf on the topic without Davis has a very gaping hole, indeed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old but Great History Writing, May 29, 2007

By 

Barrie W. Bracken "Researcher" (Daytona Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823 (Paperback)

Davis is one of the most influencial slavery historians with us today. This book is one of his two best. His later works are meant to appeal more to the wider audience who prefer nooks to be like TV programs which require a two minute attention span. If you want a glib and easy reading history, don't buy this. You won't like it or do it justice. If you want an insightful, interesting, scholarly read to increase your knowledge of a most important subject, you need this book.