REBELS AGAINST SLAVERY

Stories of African-Americans, some slaves and some free, who fought against slavery both in the LIS and the Caribbean, including Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Toussaint Louverture, and Denmark Vesey. Many of their stories have been told before, but the McKissacks (Red-Tail Angels, p. 1637, etc.) perform the important service of bringing them together in one volume. The book highlights that slaves were not--as some myths hold--passive sufferers awaiting freedom wrought by white abolitionists; many fought their oppressors with every available means, through minor inconveniences and full-scale revolts, taking leading roles in the abolition movement. The writing here is occasionally awkward--readers may have difficulty distinguishing among facts, opinions, and rationalization--but these are gripping tales, in a solid volume about the slavery era.