In a watery grave off the coast of Florida lies the earliest slave ship ever recovered. The English-owned Henrietta Marie plied the waters from Europe to Africa and the New World, sinking in the year 1700. She has waited three hundred years to reveal her story. Taking the wreck of the ship as its dramatic heart, Spirits of the Passage presents the first general-interest history of the early years of the slave trade. Told in part from the decks and the cargo hold of a single merchant slaver, this powerful and fascinating story covers a period that has heretofore been largely the territory of scholars - the late seventeenth century, when the slave trade began a period of explosive growth. Spirits of the Passage describes the story of the largest forced migration in human history, with a powerful text that personalizes the experience of slavery in the most gripping way. Richly illustrated with artifacts found in the wreck along with etchings and paintings of the time, the book documents a tragic tale of human misery even as it reveals the strength of spirit that made survival possible for enslaved Africans. Included throughout are narratives of resistance and survival, many of them never before told. The mosaic of profiles breathes life into stories from all sides of the trade, stories that will contribute to a more complete understanding of the dilemmas of the time. As integral parts of this important volume, profiles, anecdotes, illustrations, and incisive narrative all combine to create a compelling account of one of history's most important, and shattering, moments.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
This handsome book is the result of the discovery, in 1972 of the wreckage of a slave ship some 30 miles off the coast of Florida. The Henrietta Marie sank during a storm in 1700 after delivering a cargo of slaves to Jamaica. It is the oldest slave ship ever found, and the only slave ship ever recovered in the Americas. Author Madeline Burnside uses the story of the Henrietta Marie to tell the agonizing story of slavery in the Americas, from the 1500s to the 19th century and the end of what U.S. Southerners called "the peculiar institution."
From Booklist
The horrendous transatlantic slave trade of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries--"the night side of the Age of Enlightenment" --is chronicled for general readers in an attractive format and engaging text. Particular attention is paid to information that historians have gleaned from the wreck of the Henrietta Marie, a slave ship that sank off the Florida Keys 300 years ago; in fact, this book accompanies an exhibition of the ship's artifacts that will be touring the country. The nonacademic approach eases this important subject away from its usual habitat--the hands of scholars--and places it before a much wider audience. In arresting prose, the author discusses the social and economic factors that lay behind the three-sided slave-trade network: the "imperatives" of European commerce forming the first leg of the business triangle and, following that, the plundering of the African coast for slave labor and the captives' sale into bondage once in America. A book deserving a place in all U.S. history collections. Brad Hooper
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent. A highly readable & well illustrated book.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Spirits of the Passage (Hardcover)
Burnside provides an excellent overview of slavery, in a highly readable and well illustrated book. Although a scholar, Burnside has written this book for a popular audience. A great read and interesting take on a very difficult subject.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great way for a canadian to learn black history,
By Faith Stairs (stairsfe@nbnet.nb.ca) (New Brunswick Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Spirits of the Passage (Hardcover)
It is a wonderous and well put together book to educate a person on the history of the transatlantic slave trade. Being a Canadian, I was unaware of the length of time that the trade took place. I read the book and passed it on, it is not a book to have gathering dust but to be read by many
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good book - fascinating read,
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This review is from: Spirits of the Passage (Hardcover)
I had this book before and gave it away to a dear friend so I bought a replacement. A must have for anyone who enjoys history.
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