A world transformed Slavery in the Americas and the origins of global power

A World Transformed focuses on the origins of enslavement in the Americas and its ensuing global power. The impact of and human misery caused by almost four centuries of African bondage literally changed the world. Walvin (emer., Univ. of York, UK), a noted British historian, makes a strong claim that only when slavery is comprehended as a vast web of interwoven fragmented national entities can there be full appreciation of how the past impinges on the present. What he reveals is not particularly novel, but it adds weight to the fact that the capitalist economy essentially grew from the labor of millions of enslaved Africans--exploited and dehumanized souls being culturally torn asunder across the Americas (he does not consider the Caribbean region) for the sake of the growing plantation economies. In other words, the modern world cannot escape the legacy of the past, particularly when considering how nations such as Brazil owe their population inheritance largely to involuntary African migration. In short, this book is worth reading if only to link the past to the present. Walvin is skilled at making complex history accessible to a broad readership without diminishing its intellectual force. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. --Mark Christian, Lehman College, CUNY

Historian Walvin (Freedom: The Overthrow of the Slave Empires) asserts in this meticulous and eye-opening study that slavery was not just "fundamental to the way the West emerged," but also "created tentacles of economic activity" that affected far-flung regions not usually associated with the institution. Expertly sifting through archival records, Walvin documents how people, commodities, and ideas crossed oceans and continents, affecting societies as distant from the American South as India and Japan. He examines the emergence of the slave trade, its transatlantic and domestic variants, the methods by which slaveholders attempted to squeeze as much labor as possible from their captive workforce, and the efforts by enslaved people to assert their humanity and gain partial or total freedom. Walvin is particularly eloquent and insightful in describing how slavery underwrote both Western prosperity and the material symbols thereof, facilitating trade in polished mahogany furniture, Chinese porcelain, and other luxury goods. He also sheds valuable light on the links between slavery and modern-day environmental degradation and racial conflict. This richly detailed yet approachable history makes clear just how far and wide the grip of slavery reached. (May)

The enslavement and transportation of Africans formed the backbone of the Atlantic economy in the 16th through 19th centuries and facilitated the expansion of global trade. Historian Walvin's (Freedom: The Overthrow of the Slave Empires) beautifully written and compassionate narrative artfully synthesizes modern scholarship on slavery. Walvin successfully decenters the nation-state to show the interconnectedness of the slave trade and the Atlantic economies and to demonstrate slavery's enormous human and environmental effects. The slave trade radically transformed every place it touched, he argues: Europeans gained access to rich fabrics from Asia, while African societies were impacted by imported weapons, iron, and other goods. Walvin fully relates the horror and tragedy that awaited enslaved Africans as they crossed the sea in overcrowded and disease-ridden ships. Enslaved people were often transported between multiple ports and countries before being sold; then many of them endured long, torturous marches to reach the plantations or mines. Walvin masterfully conveys the tragedy and enormity of his subject without losing details or forgetting his subjects' humanity. VERDICT This general history of the slave trade provides a thorough and humane treatment of the subject that will appeal to non-specialists and specialists alike.--Chad E. Statler