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The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning Hardcover – January 25, 2022

by Ben Raines (Author)

4.6 909 ratings

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An NPR Best Book of the Year

The incredible true story of the last ship to carry enslaved people to America, the remarkable town its survivors founded after emancipation, and the complicated legacy their descendants carry with them to this day—by the journalist who discovered the ship’s remains.

Fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed, the Clotilda became the last ship in history to bring enslaved Africans to the United States. The ship was scuttled and burned on arrival to hide evidence of the crime, allowing the wealthy perpetrators to escape prosecution. Despite numerous efforts to find the sunken wreck, Clotilda remained hidden for the next 160 years. But in 2019, journalist Ben Raines made international news when he successfully concluded his obsessive quest through the swamps of Alabama to uncover one of our nation’s most important historical artifacts.

Traveling from Alabama to the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey in modern-day Benin, Raines recounts the ship’s perilous journey, the story of its rediscovery, and its complex legacy. Against all odds, Africatown, the Alabama community founded by the captives of the Clotilda, prospered in the Jim Crow South. Zora Neale Hurston visited in 1927 to interview Cudjo Lewis, telling the story of his enslavement in the New York Times bestseller Barracoon. And yet the haunting memory of bondage has been passed on through generations. Clotilda is a ghost haunting three communities—the descendants of those transported into slavery, the descendants of their fellow Africans who sold them, and the descendants of their American enslavers. This connection binds these groups together to this day. At the turn of the century, descendants of the captain who financed the Clotilda’s journey lived nearby—where, as significant players in the local real estate market, they disenfranchised and impoverished residents of Africatown.

From these parallel stories emerges a profound depiction of America as it struggles to grapple with the traumatic past of slavery and the ways in which racial oppression continue to this day. And yet, at its heart, The Last Slave Ship remains optimistic—an epic tale of one community’s triumphs over great adversity and a celebration of the power of human curiosity to uncover the truth about our past and heal its wounds.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

January 25, 2022
Dimensions

6 x 1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1982136049
ISBN-13

978-1982136048
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The fast-paced narrative begins with the voyage and follows the Clotilda’s survivors beyond the Civil War....Raines vividly conjures the watery landscape into which the Africans stepped... Knowledge of these waterways also led Raines to locate the Clotilda in a place previous searchers had ignored." — The New York Times (Editors' Choice)

"In our uncertain times, The Last Slave Ship.. is a welcome and affecting history lesson... Enlightening." — The Guardian

"A multidimensional exploration of the Clotilda, its bad actors and the descendants of the survivors... an important, weighty, timely read." — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Ben Raines made headlines in 2019 when he discovered the remains of the Clotilda, the last ship to bring enslaved people to America. His gripping, affecting book chronicles his search for the vessel in the swamps of Alabama and tells the stories of its captives and their descendants."— The Christian Science Monitor (Best Books of February)

"The Last Slave Ship is an action-packed, whip-smart true account that’s filled with science, history, and compassion. Readers will devour it." — The Washington Informer

"Ben Raines’ passionate detective work led him to discover the most famous slave shipwreck… Raines has written a crucial chapter in this unique story of loss and exploitation, but also of unsurmountable strength and hopefulness. An inspiring and captivating book.” — Sylviane A. Diouf, PhD, author of Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America

"The Last Slave Ship is all at once the true story of a terrible crime and its survivors, a riveting account of discovering the evidence its perpetrators hoped would never be found, and a moving attempt to grapple with its legacy. We may never ultimately be able to reckon adequately with slavery, but Ben Raines reminds us that the task’s immensity is no excuse for neglecting it. This is a powerful and important book."— Joshua Rothman, the Dept. of History professor at University of Alabama

"Raines’ adroit descriptions of the people and events triggered by the voyage of Clotilda are not only riveting, but speak to the true spirits of all involved." — Darron Patterson, President of The Clotilda Descendants Association

"An evocative and informative tale of exploitation, deceit, and resilience.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A highly readable, elucidating narrative that investigates all the layers of a traumatic history.— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

About the Author

Ben Raines is an award-winning environmental journalist, filmmaker, and charter captain. He lives with his wife in Fairhope, Alabama.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; First Edition (January 25, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982136049
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982136048
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #79,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #171 in Black & African American History (Books)
- #332 in Discrimination & Racism
- #716 in U.S. State & Local History

Customer Reviews:
4.6 909 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

909 global ratings

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Susan J. Williams

Extremely important book!

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book should be in every school in America! Incredible depth of research done by this author. Previously, I certainly had a good overview of slavery in America, but this opened my eyes in ways that I didn't even know were shut! A must read, but often, aspects that are very difficult realize.

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Becky Thatcher

A Lost Part of History

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

This was a fascinating book about the last slave ship that sailed from Africa to Mobile, AL, prior to the Civil War. As a Southerner, I had seen references to Africatown as I traveled through Mobile to get to FL or Orange Beach, but I had no idea of the history. I hope that this book helps to get a museum erected and a history acknowledged to recognize this unique community.

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023

Verified Purchase

In many ways, this book is amazing. We get the background of Clotilda, the last slave ship to bring people from Africa for the purpose of enslavement in the US. We read about the raid in Africa that captured the people, their journey across the Atlantic, and their life once in Alabama. We see the establishment of their community post-Civil War and the growth of that community, along with following the people who came over on Clotilda. The narrative continues with the development and eventual decay of Africa Town. There’s discussion of how the actual shipwreck was discovered and the current state of affairs in the area of Africa where one of the major ports of the slave trade was. The history is fascinating. I was drawn in emotionally. The reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is that I struggled with the inclusion of some of the information (too much? relevance?) and I felt the flow of the narrative wasn’t smooth.

3 people found this helpful

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Burtonkb

Astounding history, a real life pirates adventure

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book is a must read for every American who values history, but reads like a swashbuckling pirates adventure. I couldn’t put it down and have bought copies for friends too. I have lived in Mobile Alabama for more than 30 years. When people mentioned Africatown, I would protest, thinking they were disparaging a black community north of downtown that was surrounded by heavy industry. I was astounded that a group of Africans who were brought here on a bet by a wealthy steamboat captain long after the importation of slaves had been outlawed had indeed formed the community and called it Africatown. Ben has painstakingly researched the captains logs and historical documents to reconstruct the story. He went to Benin, Africa to see for himself where those people had been captured and sold. Then he searched the muddy delta and discovered the remains of the Clotilda, the last slave ship, that had been burned and sunk to hide evidence of the crime.

Read and enjoy the story. You may be moved to come visit the “best new museum of 2023” to open later this year in Africatown, Mobile, Alabama.

3 people found this helpful

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SC2020

I love to learn my history through page-turners like this. Exceedingly gripping and well-written.

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

From the first paragraph, you know instinctively that you're in excellent hands. All that's left is to sit back and let the stories wash over you - first of the scheme of the racist Alabama scofflaws to defy the new Federal Law banning human cargo into America by building, crewing, and sending the Clotilda to the West Coast of Africa, then of the horror of capturing the slaves from their homeland with the many willing African conspirators - then to the slaves' arrival in Alabama on the eve of the Civil War, including fighting back on many occasions - then to their thrilling emancipation five years later at war's end and their astonishing ability to create and govern their own thriving community cheek to jowl with their former enslavers in the infancy of the Jim Crow South - and of Alabama's efforts to quash its growth by cruelty, pollution and eminent domain - and finally the heart-pounding story of the author, a local who knew the waters like his own hands, triumphantly discovering the sunken remains of the Clotilda 160 years later, and finally like the best ever cherry on top, the delicious story of attempted Reconciliation between the descendants of the slaves and the descendants of the African slave-sellers from West Africa. Seven enthralling stories in one book! I dare you not to read it in one sitting. It's a must-buy for any history fan, Black history or Civil Rights aficionado, and anyone who just loves a good yarn - or 7 of them!

14 people found this helpful

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elisabeth griggs

A truly historical story

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

I am truly sorry this happened so many years ago. I believe history needs to be taught in school as it happened. I received the white washed view. So reading this book for the Kindle challenge was definitely an eye opener. There were so many facts I wasn't taught in school or by anyone else. The writing was hard for me to get through because its history. I would read a chapter then switch to another book, usually horror, my usual reading style. The book is well written. Thank you for writing. I found it hard to read because of subject content. Thank you for teaching me the correct history.

2 people found this helpful

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dpd

You’ll find out things you never knew about the slave trade

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

An educational nonfiction account of the sailing of the last ship to bring slaves to the U.S. Starting in modern day Benin in Western Africa with the selling of African natives by other Africans of royal descent, the story follows the horrific trip across the ocean under unbelievably terrible conditions. Raines follows the slaves to freedom and the acquisition of property near where they were enslaved to create Africatown in Alabama, a town still in existence today. Raines leads a search for the original boat, the Clotilda, in the swamps near Mobile. At first finding the wrong remains of the boat and having it widely publicized, Raines, embarrassed at the mistake and now gun shy, eventually finds the actual Clotilda, or, at least the remains of it since its owner burned it to the water line in an effort to bury the evidence of his crime since importing slaves at this point was illegal. Raines narrates and does a great job indicating different characters’ voices. The book is education and entertaining at the same time. I highly recommend it.

12 people found this helpful

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