Books by James Walvin

This book traces slavery from classical times to the present. It shows how the enforced movement of more than 12 million Africans on to the Atlantic slave ships, and the scattering of more 11 million survivors across the colonies of the Americas. Though they were not its pioneers, it was the British who came to dominate Atlantic slavery, helping to consolidate the country's status as a world power before it became the first major country to abolish slavery.

The years between 1776 and 1851 are of profound importance for the social and urban historian. English town dwellers of the period experienced some fundamental changes in their way of life: rapid population growth; and an unprecedented rate of social change resulting from this. First published in 1984, this book provides an overview of this topic.

As we approach the bicentenary of the abolition of the Atlantic trade, Walvin has selected the historical texts that recreate the mindset that made such a savage institution possible - morally acceptable even. Setting these historical documents against Walvin's own incisive historical narrative, the two layers of this extraordinary, definitive account of the Atlantic slave trade enable us to understand the rise and fall of one of the most shameful chapters in British history, the repercussions of which the modern world is still living with.

Surveying the key questions of slavery, this book traces the arguments which have surrounded its history in recent years. A wide-ranging thematic organisation covers racial, economic, political, social, cultural, gender and colonial dimensions.

This volume describes the life of Henry Clarke, a teacher, a cleric politician, a businessman, an inventor, and the father of eleven children who lived in Jamaica for the last 60 years of his life.