Rough Crossings by Simon Schama


ISBN
9780563487098
Published
Binding
Hardcover
Pages
448
Dimensions
162 x 241 x 41mm

Britain, the slaves, and the American Revolution.

Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution and its aftermath, 'Rough Crossings' is the gripping, astonishing epic of the struggle for freedom by tens of thousands of slaves who believed that their future as free men and women was bound up with staying British, not becoming American.

The decision to offer slaves who defected to the British their liberty began in military strategy, but it unleashed the greatest mass uprising in American history by tens of thousands of slaves - Americans who clung to the sentimental notion of British freedom even when they knew that the English were far from being saints when it came to slavery.

With powerfully vivid story-telling, often spoken through the voices of the blacks themselves, as well as the white abolitionists who became their emancipators and protectors, Schama follows the odyssey of the escaped blacks into the fires of the war, the terror of potential recapture at the war's end, and into inhospitable Nova Scotia where thousands who had served the Crown were betrayed in their promises to receive land. Along the way, 'Rough Crossings' keeps company with a cast of extraordinary characters: Granville Sharp, the flute-playing father-figure of slave freedom; David George, runaway slave and Baptist preacher; Thomas Peters, sergeant in the British Black Pioneers and the first true African-American politician. Most compelling of all, there is Lieutenant John Clarkson, young, passionate, resourceful and high-strung, the 'Moses' of this, one of the great Exoduses in British history. Clarkson's journal of the 'ingathering' in Nova Scotia, the ocean crossing and the harrowing experience of the first year in Sierra Leone is one of the most powerful documents of the history of liberty.

Although the extraordinary story that unfolds in 'Rough Crossings' would ultimately prove to be bitterly tragic, it was not without its moments of redemption, promises kept as well as betrayed. If there is heartbreak waiting in its pages there is also rejoicing. No one who reads it will ever feel the same way again about what it means to be British, American - and black.
Christmas Catalogue 2024 x BookFrenzy
46.75
RRP: $55.00
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $55
Rough Crossings is Out of Print

Other Titles by Simon Schama


You might also like

The Soul
49.99
39.99
20% Off
The Golden Road
39.99
33.99
15% Off
Unruly
26.99
22.94
15% Off
Jerusalem
26.99
22.94
15% Off
Hell Ship
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Mutiny On The Bounty
Peter FitzSimons
36.99
31.44
15% Off
The AngloSaxons
22.99
19.54
15% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.