Our Man in Charleston

May 18, 2015
The ambitious and politically-minded Robert Bunch served as the British consul in Charleston, S.C., from 1853–63, seemingly the ideal choice to represent Great Britain’s interests in the South. But as journalist Dickey (Securing the City) shows, almost no one realized that he had a double agenda. Great Britain had grave concerns during the antebellum period: “England hated slavery, but loved the cotton the slaves raised, and British industry depended on it. Defending Britain’s political interests while serving its commercial interests required constant delicate diplomacy.” Simply put, Bunch’s mission was to subtly sabotage the slave trade and Southern secession, undermining the very institution that produced the goods his country demanded. As Dickey tells it, Bunch was playing with fire, and reader will feel the agent’s mounting frustration as he sends missives back to England, damning the slave trade and Southern arrogance, while wearing a more moderate face for his Charleston neighbors. Bunch’s tale is framed by the larger arguments of the time, including the inexorable march toward war, and the result is a fascinating tale of compromise, political maneuvering, and espionage. Dickey makes it easy to believe that the obscure Bunch really did play a pivotal role during his years in America. Agent: Kathy Robbins, Robbins Office.

Starred review from May 1, 2015
In this biography of Robert Bunch, the British consul in Charleston, South Carolina, at the beginning of the Civil War, Daily Beast foreign editor Dickey (Securing the City: Inside America's Best Counterterror Force-The NYPD, 2010, etc.) illustrates how an outside observer can understand more about a situation than the parties involved. The years leading up to the war were vitally important for the British to understand the feelings and actions of that hotbed of secession and slavery. The British and Americans banned the slave trade in 1807, but the Americans added a proviso of a 20-year delay. Bunch's great talent was in convincing Charlestonians to see him as being on a friendly mission. They revealed their plots, plans, and hopes to him, which he used to compose invaluable dispatches to Britain's virulently anti-slavery government. The author thoroughly understands the point of view of the South regarding the slave trade. Cotton was king, and England was its largest customer. While the production had grown 3,000 percent, the slave population increased only by 150 percent. As new states entered the Union, hopefully as slave states, even more workers would be needed for the labor-intensive industry. Virginia and Maryland, states where cotton had depleted the soil, now bred and sold slaves to the new markets, and some argued that the price of long-standing slaves had grown so much that new "stock" would devalue them. Dickey's comprehension of the mindset of the area, coupled with the enlightening missives from Bunch, provides a rich background to understanding the time period. Bunch's work in Charleston helped guide Britain's decisions regarding the cotton-export ban, the blockade, and whether to recognize the Confederacy. A great book explaining the workings of what Dickey calls an erratic, cobbled-together coalition of ferociously independent states. It should be in the library of any student of diplomacy, as well as Civil War buffs.

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June 1, 2015
As the U.S. lurched toward Civil War in the 1850s, Great Britain was far from a disinterested observer. The British textile industry was highly dependent on Southern cotton, and much of that was exported out of the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston was also a hotbed of Southern radicalism, where Fire-Eaters had been preaching secession for years. When hostilities commenced, the newly appointed British consul in Charleston, Robert Bunch, had to play an important but tricky double game. Outwardly, the 32-year-old Bunch played the role of a Confederate sympathizer who mixed easily with the slaveholding aristocracy in Charleston. In reality, he despised slavery and the pretensions to nobility and honor of men who continued to own slaves and still took part in the illegal Atlantic slave trade. His attitude was aligned with British government policy and public opinion, and British naval vessels had interfered with the slave trade for decades. So, despite his publicly friendly face, Bunch used his role to secretly send information back to Britain that helped prevent his government from recognizing Confederate independence. Dickey, the foreign editor of the Daily Beast, tracks Bunch's character, machinations, and achievements in a fine examination of a superbly skilled diplomat.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2015

The Confederacy desperately wanted recognition from Great Britain, but that country opposed the slave trade, which the Southern states wanted reopened. Southerners thought they had an ally in Robert Bunch, British consul in Charleston, SC, but he truly hated slavery and secretly sent dispatches to the Crown detailing the South's duplicity. From the Paris-based foreign editor of the Daily Beast.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015

Journalist Dickey tells the story of Robert Bunch, a British consul who arrived in Charleston, SC, in 1853. He witnessed and reported to London on the rise of sectional tensions that ultimately led to the Civil War in 1861, specifically focusing on Britain's determination to enforce the end of the Atlantic slave trade. As war began, British dependence on Southern cotton became the Confederacy's trump card in bringing Britain into the war. Bunch maintained a sympathetic veneer that allowed him to gain trust and valuable information from Charleston residents, communicating to British diplomats that the South's antislavery-trade rhetoric aimed to draw the British toward the Confederacy. In telling Bunch's story, Dickey transitions from a slow beginning to a taut ending in which Bunch ultimately is forced to leave Charleston, distrusted by both South and North. Dickey is particularly strong in presenting the often colorful, unreasonable, and desperate secessionists determined to preserve their way of life. VERDICT This account will appeal to general readers and specialists interested in mid-1800s American and British political history, especially the diplomatic aspects of the coming of the Civil War. Its Charleston setting should attract readers focusing on that city's history. [See Prepub Alert, 1/5/15.]--Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.