The Empire of Necessity, Greg Grandin
The Empire of Necessity, Greg Grandin
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The Empire of Necessity
Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World

Author: Greg Grandin

Narrator: Luis Moreno

Unabridged: 11 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 01/14/2014

Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of Fordlandia, the story of a remarkable slave rebellion that illuminates America' s struggle with slavery and freedom during the Age of Revolution and beyond One morning in 1805, off a remote island in the South Pacific, Captain Amasa Delano, a New England seal hunter, climbed aboard a distressed Spanish ship carrying scores of West Africans he thought were slaves. They weren' t. Having earlier seized control of the vessel and slaughtered most of the crew, they were staging an elaborate ruse, acting as if they were humble servants. When Delano, an idealistic, anti-slavery republican, finally realized the deception, he responded with explosive violence. Drawing on research on four continents, The Empire of Necessity explores the multiple forces that culminated in this extraordinary event-- an event that already inspired Herman Melville' s masterpiece Benito Cereno. Now historian Greg Grandin, with the gripping storytelling that was praised in Fordlandia, uses the dramatic happenings of that day to map a new transnational history of slavery in the Americas, capturing the clash of peoples, economies, and faiths that was the New World in the early 1800s.

About Greg Grandin

Greg Grandin is the author of The End of the Myth, which won the Pulitzer Prize, and Fordlandia, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His widely acclaimed books also include The Last Colonial Massacre, Kissinger's Shadow, and The Empire of Necessity, which won the Bancroft and Beveridge awards in American history. He is Peter V. and C. Van Woodward Professor of History at Yale University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Fred on February 20, 2014

Among the finest, most compelling works I've ever read on Latin America, on slavery, and on Melville. Also a complement or prequel to another great recent work on slavery, Walter Johnson's 'River of Dark Dreams.'......more

Goodreads review by Russell on February 08, 2019

If you’re not immediately tempted to buy this book, but are at least tempted to test it, read the Epilogue: Herman Melville’s America (pp. 265 – 273). These few pages will give you a good idea of what you’re in for should you make the investment in time and money. I, like most Americans, am well acqu......more

Goodreads review by Brian on September 20, 2022

Grandin the God. Probably the best living historian today in terms of writing talent. Incredible and unknown (to me) story of the slave revolts during the Atlantic Slave trade. I especially loved learning about how Muslims were so much more likely to revolt (due to literacy and belief in egalitarian......more

Goodreads review by Między sklejonymi kartkami on January 02, 2022

Każdy, kto ma odrobinę oleju w głowie, doskonale rozumie, jak niesprawiedliwe oraz niemiarodajne są średnie ocen na książkowych portalach, i na pewno nie polega na nich przy doborze własnych lektur. Ciekawi mnie jednak, czy istnieje ktoś, komu na widok wyjątkowo niskiej noty nie zapaliłaby się w gło......more

Goodreads review by Richard on February 27, 2014

Frankly, much about this book was really uncomfortable to read. And yet paradoxically, I finished its almost 300 pages (including reading most of its many footnotes) in a very few days. The book's surface narrative follows the seafaring peregrinations of New Englander Amasa Delano, focusing-in on hi......more

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