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Discover how the campaign to end slavery divided Britain and was almost thwarted by some of the most powerful and famous figures of the era.
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING**
In 1807, Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire. But for the next 25 years more than 700,000 people remained enslaved, due to the immensely powerful pro-slavery group the 'West India Interest'.
This ground-breaking history discloses the extent to which the 'Interest' were supported by nearly every figure of the British establishment - fighting, not to abolish slavery, but to maintain it for profit. Gripping and unflinching, The Interest is the long-overdue exposé of one of Britain's darkest, most turbulent times.
A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Scintillating . . . compulsively readable' Guardian
'A magnificent book . . . riveting' Evening Standard
'A critical piece of history and a devastating exposé' Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire
'Thoroughly researched and potent' David Lammy MP
'Essential reading' Simon Sebag Montefiore
About the author
Michael Taylor is the author of The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2021, chosen as a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year and described as 'riveting' (The Times) and 'compulsively readable' (Guardian). He was born in 1988 and graduated with a double first in history from the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD. He has since been Lecturer in Modern British History at Balliol College, Oxford, and a Visiting Fellow at the British Library's Eccles Centre for American Studies.
Summary
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITINGA DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR For two hundred years, the abolition of slavery in Britain has been a cause for self-congratulation - but no longer. In 1807, Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire.
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An outstanding and gripping revelation ... essential reading Simon Sebag Montefiore
