Description: Challenging the boundaries of slavery ultimately brought on the Civil War and the unexpected, immediate emancipation of slaves long before it could have been achieved in any other way. This imaginative and fascinating book puts slavery into a new light and underscores anew the desperate human tragedy lying at the very heart of the American story.
Brief description: David Brion Davis was Sterling Professor of History, Emeritus, and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University.
Review Quotes: In strokes both broad and fine-grained Davis deftly surveys the many complex issues relating to the origins and abolition of the Atlantic slave system and its role in the formation of America. A gracefully crafted gem of historical synthesis and profound interpretive insights from the nation's preeminent student of comparative slavery.--Orlando Patterson, Harvard University