Customer Reviews

In Search of the Red Slave: Shipwreck & Captivity in Madagascar

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There's a great story tucked in "Red Slave..." A young seaman aboard an early 18th century English ship experiences shipwreck, survives a massacre, endures years of slavery and battles alongside his captors, all in mysterious Madagascar. It's a ripping good yarn and, as the authors prove, a true story. However the authors tease us with just the highlights of Robert Drury's amazing adventures and subsequent life as a slave trader. Much of the focus of their short book is an anthropological study of the southern Madagascar where Drury was held.
Imagine having such a story to tell and instead recounting your own experiences in the field with tales of trouble with the Land Rover, fears of spiders and current customs.
I'm sure "Red Slave..." has an audience among anthropologists or those interested in Madagascar. For the historian and student of 17th/18th-century sear faring adventures, this book merely whets the appetite. Hopefully a skilled historian/story teller such as Gilles Milton or Fergus Fleming will soon put their work to good use. Robert Drury's story is an amazing one and the author's deserve credit for helping establish its authenticity.