Wednesday, December 18, 2013

New Release: Harms, Freamon, & Blight, eds., "Indian Ocean Slavery in the Age of Abolition"

New from Yale University Press: Indian Ocean Slavery in the Age of Abolition, edited by Robert Harms (Yale University), Bernard K. Freamon (Seton Hall Law School), and David W. Blight (Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University). According to the Press:
While the British were able to accomplish abolition in the trans-Atlantic world by the end of the nineteenth century, their efforts paradoxically caused a great increase in legal and illegal slave trading in the western Indian Ocean. Bringing together essays from leading authorities in the field of slavery studies, this comprehensive work offers an original and creative study of slavery and abolition in the Indian Ocean world during this period. Among the topics discussed are the relationship between British imperialism and slavery; Islamic law and slavery; and the bureaucracy of slave trading. 
A blurb:
“The focus on the abolition period marks the volume as unique. It is valuable for that purpose, besides vetting very fine scholarship. I would recommend it to anyone interested in slavery, the Indian Ocean, the Islamic world, and abolition.”—Paul Lovejoy
The Table of Contents hasn't been posted on the Press's website yet, but you can get a peek at it by using the "Look Inside" link on the book's Amazon page.