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Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits isthe first book to explore the long-range cultural legacy of slavery through commonplace daily objects.
- Offers a new and original approach to the history of slavery by an acknowledged expert on the topic
- Traces the relationship between slavery and modern cultural habits through an analysis of commonplace objects that include sugar, tobacco, tea, maps, portraiture, print, and more
- Represents the only study that utilizes common objects to illustrate the cultural impact and legacy of the Atlantic slave trade
- Makes the topic of slavery accessible to a wider public audience
List of contents
Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Slavery in Western Life 1
1 A Sugar Bowl: Sugar and Slavery 11
2 Cowrie Shells: Slavery and Global Trade 37
3 Tobacco: The Slave Origins of a Global Epidemic 54
4 Mahogany: Fashion and Slavery 82
5 Stately Homes and Mansions: The Architecture of Slavery 104
6 Maps: Revealing Slavery 128
7 A Portrait: Pictures in Black and White 151
8 The Brooks: Slave Ships 173
9 A Book: Slavery and the World of Print 192
10 Chains: The Ironware of Slavery 218
11 Cotton: Slavery and Industrial Change 239
Conclusion 262
Index 265
About the author
James Walvin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Professor Emeritus at the University of York, and formerly a Visiting Fellow at Yale University. His books include
Black Ivory: Slavery in the British Empire, 2E (2001);
The Trader, The Owner, The Slave: Parallel Lives in the Age of Slavery (2007);
A Short History of Slavery (2007);
Britain's Slave Empire (2008);
The Zong: A Massacre, the Law and the End of Slavery (2011);
The Slave Trade (2011); and
Crossings: Africa, the Americas and the Atlantic Slave Trade (2013).
Summary
Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits isthe first book to explore the long-range cultural legacy of slavery through commonplace daily objects.
