Bury the Chains

Eighteenth-century Britain was the world’s leading centre for the slave trade. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild, author of the Duff Cooper prize-winning King Leopold's Ghost , charts the history of the moment everything changed. In 1788, the slave trade flourishing across the British Empire, amassing wealth beyond measure. Bury the Chains is the remarkable story of the men who sought to end slavery and brought the issue to the heart of British political life. Hochschild, lauded for his scholarly prowess and engrossing storytelling, transports us from London's bustling coffee houses to the West Indies' backbreaking sugar plantations. Exploring the roles of key figures in the movement such as John Newton, Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and former slave Olaudah Equiano, it tells the history of the battle against an era of abhorrent human exploitation, illuminating the inception of the international human rights movement. Bury the Chains, a journey through some of the darkest times in history, compells us to honour the courageous heroes who dared to question, challenge, and ultimately bury the chains of social injustice.

Eighteenth-century Britain was the world’s leading centre for the slave trade. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild, author of the Duff Cooper prize-winning King Leopold's Ghost , charts the history of the moment everything changed. In 1788, the slave trade flourishing across the British Empire, amassing wealth beyond measure. Bury the Chains is the remarkable story of the men who sought to end slavery and brought the issue to the heart of British political life. Hochschild, lauded for his scholarly prowess and engrossing storytelling, transports us from London's bustling coffee houses to the West Indies' backbreaking sugar plantations. Exploring the roles of key figures in the movement such as John Newton, Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and former slave Olaudah Equiano, it tells the history of the battle against an era of abhorrent human exploitation, illuminating the inception of the international human rights movement. Bury the Chains, a journey through some of the darkest times in history, compells us to honour the courageous heroes who dared to question, challenge, and ultimately bury the chains of social injustice.

Adam Hochschild's Bury the Chains is the taut, gripping account of one of the most brilliantly organized social justice campaigns in history--the fight to free the slaves of the British Empire. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History A National Book Award Finalist A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller In early 1787, twelve men--a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slavery--came together in a London printing shop and began the world's first grassroots movement, battling for the rights of people on another continent. Masterfully stoking public opinion, the movement's leaders pioneered a variety of techniques that have been adopted by citizens' movements ever since, from consumer boycotts to wall posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements. A deft chronicle of this groundbreaking antislavery crusade and its powerful enemies, Bury the Chains gives a little-celebrated human rights watershed its due at last. " Bury the Chains is by far the most readable and rounded account we have of British antislavery, a campaign that...helped to change the world and can be seen as a prototype of the modern social justice movement"-- Los Angeles Times Book Review

Adam Hochschild's Bury the Chains is the taut, gripping account of one of the most brilliantly organized social justice campaigns in history--the fight to free the slaves of the British Empire. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History A National Book Award Finalist A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller In early 1787, twelve men--a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slavery--came together in a London printing shop and began the world's first grassroots movement, battling for the rights of people on another continent. Masterfully stoking public opinion, the movement's leaders pioneered a variety of techniques that have been adopted by citizens' movements ever since, from consumer boycotts to wall posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements. A deft chronicle of this groundbreaking antislavery crusade and its powerful enemies, Bury the Chains gives a little-celebrated human rights watershed its due at last. " Bury the Chains is by far the most readable and rounded account we have of British antislavery, a campaign that...helped to change the world and can be seen as a prototype of the modern social justice movement"-- Los Angeles Times Book Review