"Davis-succeeds heroically in wrestling a vast amount of material from diverse cultures. The result is a sinewy book that combines erudition and everyday detail into a gripping, often surprising, narrative."-Wall Street Journal "Impressive and sprawling....Davis's account is rich in detail and his voice is clear enough to coax even casual readers through this dense history."-Publishers Weekly "A tour de force....explaining what has made slavery's consequences so much a part of contemporary American culture and politics."-New York Times Book Review "The broader perspective on American slavery-its social and economic impact on the growth of the U.S.-forces readers to face the contradictions between our democratic ideals and economic impulses."-Booklist David Brion Davis is recognized as the leading authority on slavery in the Western world. His books have won such awards as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
Now, in Inhuman Bondage, Davis sums up a lifetime of insight, beginning with the dramatic Amistad case. He looks at slavery in the American South, describing black slaveholding planters; the rise of the Cotton Kingdom; the daily life of ordinary slaves; the highly destructive internal, long-distance slave trade; the sexual exploitation of slaves; the emergence of an African-American culture; and much more.
A definitive history by a writer deeply immersed in the subject, Inhuman Bondage links together the profits of slavery, the pain of the enslaved, and the legacy of racism.
