Island on fire
the revolt that ended slavery in the British empire
- ISBN: 9780674271159
- Editorial: Harvard University Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2022
- Lugar de la edición: Cambridge (MSS). Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
- Encuadernación: Rústica
- Medidas: 21 cm
- Nº Pág.: 376
- Idiomas: Inglés
The final uprising of enslaved people in Jamaica started as a peaceful labor strike a few days shy of Christmas in 1831. A harsh crackdown by white militias quickly sparked a full-blown revolt, leaving hundreds of plantation houses in smoking ruins. The rebels lost their daring bid for freedom, but their headline-grabbing defiance triggered a decisive turn against slavery.
Island on Fire is a dramatic day-by-day account of these transformative events. A skillful storyteller, Tom Zoellner uses diaries, letters, and colonial records to tell the intimate story of the men and women who rose up and briefly tasted liberty. He brings to life the rebellion's enigmatic leader, the preacher Samuel Sharpe, and shows how his fiery resistance turned the tide of opinion in London and hastened the end of slavery in the British Empire.
Map: Jamaica, 1831–1832
Introduction
1. A Suburb of Hell
2. Deacon Sharpe
3. King Sugar
4. The Door of No Return
5. The Plot
6. Swear to Me
7. The Fires
8. One Common Ruin
9. Launched into Eternity
10. Panic
11. Another Island
12. Freedom
13. Aftermath
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
