Read more
"In 1716 two princes of Mpfumo embarked on a voyage that transformed and, for one, destroyed their lives. They would travel from their homeland, where Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, now stands, to Madagascar, St. Helena, Jamaica, and London. They would go from honored guests to enslaved property and back again. In The Two Princes of Mpfumo, Lindsay O'Neill follows the journey of Prince James Maffoom and Prince John Maffoom through an empire in flux, one where the Atlantic world's focus on chattel slavery and the plantation system threatened to seep into the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Prince James and Prince John would claw their way out of slavery in Jamaica and arrive in England in 1720. There the princes and their patrons negotiated with the East India Company and the Royal African Company for a voyage home. Both companies were in crisis and investigating new possibilities in south eastern Africa. For both, the possibility of gold beckoned, while the East India Company also wished to become involved in the transatlantic slave trade, and the Royal African Company was in search of new trading routes. The princes' journey home, however, turned tragic when James ended his own life. John, however, made it home and turned his back on the British. The travels of James and John and their engagement with imperial officials changes our perception of the British Empire in the early eighteenth century. Their story blurs the boundaries between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and expands our view of British involvement in the slave trade. It lays bare the intertwined networks, powerful individuals, and unstable knowledge that guided British attempts at imperial expansion. And it shows us the power of African polities, who decided who lived and who died on their coast"--Publisher's description.
About the author
Lindsay O'Neill
