Royal Navy Versus the Slave Traders
Enforcing Abolition at Sea, 1808–1898

Regarding slavery, the standard narrative is that Europeans were the bad guys and Africans were the victims. This book supplies ample evidence that Europeans, especially the British Navy, were instrumental in ending the slave trade, despite the efforts of Africans and others to keep it going. Some mem......more

Slavery has been as endemic in human history as warfare. Whole societies have been built on slavery and, for most of history, the practice was taken completely for granted as simply part of the cultural fabric, as unfortunate but as inevitable as death and illness. There’s only been two places and t......more

It’s hard to know when the gruesome slave trade in Africa started. Before the Europeans arrived, Arabs had been active for hundreds of years and before the Arabs there was internal trade between tribes. This book instead tells the story of how it ended, with the British courts reaching a landmark de......more

In the history of the world, no country has done more to end slavery or end the slave trade than The British Empire. The empire went from being one of the major slave traders, to banning slavery in its own territories, to employing its navy to end the slave trade. There's a lot you can say against t......more

The early part of this edition needs a copy editor; some poor grammar. After an introduction to the background of the slave trade in 18th Century it then turns into a chapter by chapter retelling of specific events involving the Royal Navy's battles with the slave trade. This book structure somehow......more