Rachael Tearney reviews the first biography of Elizabeth Heyrick, Quaker, campaigner and abolitionist. The women of the Abolitionist movement are far less well-known than the men, and this timely book highlights one whose advocation of ‘immediate’ rather than ‘gradual’ abolition of slavery put her at odds with better-known figures such as William Wilberforce. The Abolition […]
Human trafficking or slave trading? A Roman industry
In Ancient Rome, slavery was seen as perfectly acceptable, and seizing and trafficking other humans was a useful trade supplying a demand. But there were circumstances in which the Roman authorities tried, more or less successfully, to clamp down on it. Jacquie Rogers examines the evidence. Trafficking is ‘dealing or trading in something illegal’ according […]
I’m Spartacus! Slave revolts in Rome
Harry Sidebottom’s latest novel, The Burning Road, is set in Sicily during a revolt of enslaved people against the Roman Empire. He wonders why there were so few such uprisings during the many centuries of Roman rule – and why we’ve only heard of the one led by Spartacus. “I am Spartacus!” At first in […]
Reassessing Francis Drake: what research for my novel revealed about his role in the slave trade
Author Nikki Marmery tells Historia about how researching her recently-published novel about the African woman known as Maria showed her the extent of Francis Drake’s involvement in the slave trade. When I started writing On Wilder Seas eight years ago, I wanted to counter the hero narrative surrounding Francis Drake, which persists despite his background […]
A respectable trade in brutality: Blood & Sugar
Laura Shepherd-Robinson tells Historia how a shameful period in Britain’s history spurred her to write Blood & Sugar.
Review: The Long Song
The Long Song, (BBC1, 9pm) is an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Man Booker shortlisted novel and tells the story of July, a slave growing up on a Jamaican plantation in the dying days of slavery. The first episode takes place against the backdrop of the ‘Baptist War’, or ‘Christmas Rebellion’, a slave revolt that increased […]
Writers’ Rights and Human Rights
Lydia Syson on Pacific slavery, and a writer’s responsibility to tell our hidden histories. “Sometimes how one frames a story determines whether or not we will see the fullness of a character.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, on Guardian webchat I didn’t set out to write a novel ‘about’ slavery. Or indeed to ‘dip my pen in […]