Them Dark Days: Slavery in the American Rice Swamps (Paperback)

by William Dusinberre (Author) "Perhaps nowhere in the world can individual slaves and their masters be better seen than at "Gowrie," a Georgia rice plantation eight miles upstream from..." (more)
Key Phrases: other rice plantations, brick thresher, pineland camp, Charles Manigault, South Carolina, Louis Manigault (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"William Dusinberre has restored a tragic dimension to slave studies, and has done so with a thoroughness and persuasiveness that no future student of slavery will be able to ignore."--The Journal of Southwest Georgia History
"There is no other book quite like Them Dark Days....His scholarship is awesome. Dusinberre has a great deal to say that is fresh and exciting about slavery, and his writing style is always clear and often eloquent....I found Them Dark Days both stimulating and enjoyable."--Charles Joyner, University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina College
"The book provides a wealth of information on the antebellum lowcountry rice industry and the families that dominated it."--Agricultural History, University of Maryland, College Park "Dusinberre certainly knows how to tell a good story. And if some of his material proves to be familiar to lowcountry scholars, these specialists will nevertheless appreciate his detective work in piecing together a coherent, moving account of the complex negotiations and struggles between tidewater slaves and their masters."--The Journal of Southern History
"[The author's] book is an important corrective to recent scholarship and adds new meaning to the neo-abolitionist interpretation."--ISTORY
"...[A] vast and multifaceted new interpretation of slavery. Among his most impressive achievements is that he draws from these all-too-familiar sources so much that is fresh, provocative, and fully worthy of our attention."--American Historical Review
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
A study of the callous, capitalistic nature of the vast rice plantations along the Southeastern US coast. Based on overseers' letters, slave testimonies and plantation records, it offers a vivid reconstruction of slavery in action.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 556 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820322105
• ISBN-13: 978-0820322100
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #846,075 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, May 26, 2006

By	B. Witt (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Them Dark Days: Slavery in the American Rice Swamps (Hardcover)

As a student of history (Ok - I'll grant you I have only a dilettante status) I must say this is a book that everyone should read. Dusinberre doesn't spare the grisly details and approaches the subject from a variety of angles. You'll get the view of the charnel house and from planters.

All to better illuminate a ghastly system that put so many into the grinder.

Powerful and well written. If you love the Palmetto State and history in general then I highly recommend this one.