In 1767; two "princes" of a ruling family in the port of Old Calabar; on the slave coast of Africa; were ambushed and captured by English slavers. The princes; Little Ephraim Robin John and Ancona Robin Robin John; were themselves slave traders who were betrayed by African competitors--and so began their own extraordinary odyssey of enslavement. Their story; written in their own hand; survives as a rare firsthand account of the Atlantic slave experience. Randy Sparks made the remarkable discovery of the princes' correspondence and has managed to reconstruct their adventures from it. They were transported from the coast of Africa to Dominica; where they were sold to a French physician. By employing their considerable language and interpersonal skills; they cleverly negotiated several escapes that took them from the Caribbean to Virginia; and to England; but always ended in their being enslaved again. Finally; in England; they sued for; and remarkably won; their freedom. Eventually; they found their way back to Old Calabar and; evidence suggests; resumed their business of slave trading.The Two Princes of Calabar offers a rare glimpse into the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and slave trade from an African perspective. It brings us into the trading communities along the coast of Africa and follows the regular movement of goods; people; and ideas across and around the Atlantic. It is an extraordinary tale of slaves' relentless quest for freedom and their important role in the creation of the modern Atlantic World.
#2120246 in Books Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2006-04-24Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.39 x 5.82 x 8.36l; 1.30 #File Name: 0674021665416 pages
Review
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Interesting perspective; but fails to tell the storyBy T. HeckThe author makes very compelling statements about British Imperialism; its development and its impacts on both the Indian subcontinent and domestically. I appreciated learning more about that historical perspective. The book does not do a good job of telling the story of the British in India; I still know little about its origins; how the British came to be there. The author seems to assume that the reader already knows the background. As a result; I would not recommend this as the reader's first book on the subject; but perhaps the second.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. An interesting and important history to explore.By ReaderAn interesting and important history to explore. At times the author spirals off into incredibly dense academic meanderings covering scatterings of ideas and arguments - based upon other ideas and arguments - upon other ideas and arguments... eventually leaning directly or indirectly towards supporting finer points of his hypothesis. This can become so tedious as to give one the powerful urge to shout profanities and/or throw the book against an adjacent wall.As frustrating as that can be; most of the book pulls you along. I do recommend reading it. I also think that this subject deserves to be written about in a more accessible way. I believe ideas like this are best demonstrated and absorbed through narratives that focus primarily around an account of history; of facts; events; incentives; and outcomes - rather than a convoluted dictation of them with the "story" being almost secondary to the hypothesis.14 of 19 people found the following review helpful. The most effective whitewash of outright theft into a "civilising mission"By Adheet GogateScandal of Empire is a disturbing book.Disturbing because it goes back to the earliest times of English presence in India and pieces together events at a level of detail unheard of in Indian history texts (which are mostly written by "eminent historians").Dirks explains how cleverly England converted an open grab of resources into a civilising mission first in the eyes of its own citizens and then even in the eyes of the citizens of occupied India.The whitewash was so effective; that India's most recent (and arguably her worst) Prime Minister actually claimed; in Cambridge itself; that india benefited hugely from Colonial occupation (which was estimated to have resulted in the vacuum cleaning of resources and economic value of over 10 trillion dollars in today's monies; not including the cost and pain of lives lost).Replete with references to actual notes and documents; this is a solid piece of work.A must read for every Indian.Scandal gets only 4 stars for Dirks' writing style; his sentences are over-long and his style academic. Readers will have to work to extract his messages.
