Slavery

June 22, 2009
This encyclopedic guide to the subject of slavery highlights its history from Mesopotamia through the Atlantic slave trade and into the present day, focusing on such issues as the lives of slaves (“Working on sugar plantations in the West Indies or Brazil was probably the hardest life an enslaved person could face”), movements that questioned slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation. A section entitled “Aftermath of Slavery” includes information about the lives of former slaves, the Reconstruction period in the U.S., civil rights struggles and how slavery is remembered and depicted today. Photographs, time lines, quotations from historical figures and paintings create a diverse panorama of information that ends with a discussion of the current slave trade and the reminder that “20 million people continue to be enslaved worldwide.” As thorough as it is socially pertinent. Ages 12–up.

August 1, 2009
Gr 7 Up-Slavery, in all of its inhumanity, is a practice that has been prevalent in nearly every corner of the world in some fashion. Long ago, the slave trade was banned, yet incredibly, even in today's informed, global society, it still manages to exist. A topic this complex and all encompassing would seem to be too difficult to explain in one volume, but DK, with its signature style of stunning visuals and accompanying brief but detailed text, makes an excellent effort. Grant addresses the history of slavery from its beginnings in ancient Greece and Rome to its spread throughout Europe and the Americas in intricate and fascinating detail. Each chapter covers a different aspect of the topic, beginning with a comprehensive and informative time line. A section called "Voices" in each chapter contains enlightening and powerful first-person accounts of those directly involved, including slaves, captains of slave ships, abolitionists, and the leaders of slave rebellions. Simple, yet informative tables and statistics offer fascinating bits of information, such as the fact that the last president to own slaves was Ulysses S. Grant. The concluding chapter highlights a United Nations study estimating that 20 million people around the world, many of them children, remain enslaved today. Overall, a great asset to any library."Margaret Auguste, Franklin Middle School, Somerset, NJ"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2009
Grades 4-7 A trove of (mostly) period documents, artifacts, and images, this visual history of slavery focuses mainly on the New World and the African slave trade. Sandwiched between a quick survey of slaverys historical background and a single closing section on slavery today, the single-topic spreads cover the trades methods and practices; how enslaved people lived and died on plantations and elsewhere; the growth of abolition movements; and the legacy of the Reconstruction in this country. Information is presented in short text passages placed among sharply reproduced prints, drawings, photos, tables, maps, and other illustrations. Brutality is acknowledged but very seldom specifically described or depicted. Subtitle notwithstanding, there is not a lot of verbal primary-source materialreal people only step forward about three dozen times in these pages, and then just for short, generally rhetorical statementsand there are no leads to further resources. Still, as a general overview with a plethora of pictures, this book gives younger readers a good lead-in to the more documentary (and disturbing) likes of Elizabeth Sirimarcos American Voices from the Time of Slavery (2006).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)