bookshelf

ISLAND ON FIRE

Name: ISLAND ON FIRE
Author: Tom Zoellner
ISBN: 978-0-674-98430-1

THE REVOLT THAT ENDED SLAVERY IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE

by Tom Zoellner ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2020

An elucidating study of one of the lesser-known slave rebellions of the 19th century.

bookshelf

An engaging history of the horrific system of slavery practiced in Jamaica and the slave revolt that finally killed it. By the time the educated preacher Samuel Sharpe aroused his fellow slaves and neighbors to rebellion right after Christmas in 1831, there were only a few dozen elite English families in control of the vast sugar wealth of Jamaica, lording it over thousands of slaves. Sugar was the root of this evil, and Zoellner expertly delineates the massive human toll. “Feeding this addiction on a grand scale,” writes the author, “was made possible by the labor of the approximately 860,000 kidnapped Africans transported to Jamaica as slaves between 1600 and 1807.” Zoellner chronicles how young Englishmen jumped at the chance to gain their fortunes in the West Indies, and he ably shows how routinely and swiftly the degradations of slavery corrupted them. In Jamaica, life was short for both slave and master, for different reasons. The white population, vastly outnumbered by slaves, faced the “looming specter of rebellion and death,” which caused them to live unhealthy, hedonistic lives. “As an appalled visitor observed,” writes the author, “the white inhabitants ‘live like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah…they drink, eat, play, and dance, become pale as death and die like flies.’ ” The news of Nat Turner's revolt only months before had fired Sharpe's imagination—and horrified the planters—and he preached to his fellow slaves that their masters were actually keeping their freedom from them, granted in England, where a growing anti-slavery faction was gaining steam. The fuel was ready for ignition, and the fires burned all over the plantations during those first nights of rebellion. Resurrecting this important historical episode, Zoellner moves nimbly through the research, giving an exciting account of the events as well as the significant consequences when the news reached England weeks later. An elucidating study of one of the lesser-known slave rebellions of the 19th century.

Pub Date: May 12, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-674-98430-1

Page Count: 377

Publisher: Harvard Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 10, 2020

Categories:

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NATIONAL ROAD
by Tom Zoellner

- BOOK REVIEW
TRAIN
by Tom Zoellner

- BOOK REVIEW
A SAFEWAY IN ARIZONA
by Tom Zoellner

- AWARDS
Finalists for the NBCC Awards Are Announced

- AWARDS
National Book Critics Circle Presents Awards

bookshelf

THUNDERSTRUCK

by Erik Larson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2006

At times slow-going, but the riveting period detail and dramatic flair eventually render this tale an animated history...

bookshelf

A murder that transfixed the world and the invention that made possible the chase for its perpetrator combine in this fitfully thrilling real-life mystery.

Using the same formula that propelled Devil in the White City (2003), Larson pairs the story of a groundbreaking advance with a pulpy murder drama to limn the sociological particulars of its pre-WWI setting. While White City featured the Chicago World’s Fair and America’s first serial killer, this combines the fascinating case of Dr. Hawley Crippen with the much less gripping tale of Guglielmo Marconi’s invention of radio. (Larson draws out the twin narratives for a long while before showing how they intersect.) Undeniably brilliant, Marconi came to fame at a young age, during a time when scientific discoveries held mass appeal and were demonstrated before awed crowds with circus-like theatricality. Marconi’s radio sets, with their accompanying explosions of light and noise, were tailor-made for such showcases. By the early-20th century, however, the Italian was fighting with rival wireless companies to maintain his competitive edge. The event that would bring his invention back into the limelight was the first great crime story of the century. A mild-mannered doctor from Michigan who had married a tempestuously demanding actress and moved to London, Crippen became the eye of a media storm in 1910 when, after his wife’s “disappearance” (he had buried her body in the basement), he set off with a younger woman on an ocean-liner bound for America. The ship’s captain, who soon discerned the couple’s identity, updated Scotland Yard (and the world) on the ship’s progress—by wireless. The chase that ends this story makes up for some tedious early stretches regarding Marconi’s business struggles.

At times slow-going, but the riveting period detail and dramatic flair eventually render this tale an animated history lesson.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006

ISBN: 1-4000-8066-5

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006

Categories:

GENERAL HISTORY | TRUE CRIME | WORLD | HISTORY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DEMON OF UNREST
by Erik Larson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE
by Erik Larson

- BOOK REVIEW
DEAD WAKE
by Erik Larson

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TWELVE SHIPWRECKS

bookshelf

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TWELVE SHIPWRECKS

by David Gibbins ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2024

Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.

bookshelf

A popular novelist turns his hand to historical writing, focusing on what shipwrecks can tell us.

There’s something inherently romantic about shipwrecks: the mystery, the drama of disaster, the prospect of lost treasure. Gibbins, who’s found acclaim as an author of historical fiction, has long been fascinated with them, and his expertise in both archaeology and diving provides a tone of solid authority to his latest book. The author has personally dived on more than half the wrecks discussed in the book; for the other cases, he draws on historical records and accounts. “Wrecks offer special access to history at all…levels,” he writes. “Unlike many archaeological sites, a wreck represents a single event in which most of the objects were in use at that time and can often be closely dated. What might seem hazy in other evidence can be sharply defined, pointing the way to fresh insights.” Gibbins covers a wide variety of cases, including wrecks dating from classical times; a ship torpedoed during World War II; a Viking longship; a ship of Arab origin that foundered in Indonesian waters in the ninth century; the Mary Rose, the flagship of the navy of Henry VIII; and an Arctic exploring vessel, the Terror (for more on that ship, read Paul Watson’s Ice Ghost). Underwater excavation often produces valuable artifacts, but Gibbins is equally interested in the material that reveals the society of the time. He does an excellent job of placing each wreck within a broader context, as well as examining the human elements of the story. The result is a book that will appeal to readers with an interest in maritime history and who would enjoy a different, and enlightening, perspective.

Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.