| | Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves | | | | broken promises. |
| | and the American Revolution. By Simon | | 4 | | The story of the freed American |
| | Schama. | | | | slaves is not quite unknown, but |
| | | | | | neither is it well known. British history |
| | Black and white - | | | | has rarely dwelt on the loss of its |
| | and red all over | | | | colonies across the Atlantic (preferring |
| | | | | | to celebrate victories), and until |
| | Britain’s best-known historian | | | | recently has been happy to draw a veil |
| | examines a turning point in the | | | | over the horrors of slavery (“ghastly |
| | history of slavery – and the fight for | | | | business – the less said about it the |
| | American independence | | | | better”). But this terrific story |
| | | | | | straddles some very large |
1 | | NATIONS need luck in their | | | | contemporary concerns: the roots of |
| | historians, as with everything else, and | | | | transatlantic racism, and the ugly |
| | in Simon Schama, Britain – not to | | | | wrench that inspired the special |
| | mention America, where he lives and | | | | relationship between Britain and |
| | works – has hit the jackpot. It must | | | | America. |
| | have been tempting to follow his | | 5 | | At the height of the conflict, |
| | panoramic “A History of Britain”, the | | | | Britain guaranteed freedom to any |
| | three volumes of which dominated the | | | | slave who fought for the king against |
| | bestseller lists in 2000 and beyond, | | | | George Washington’s slave-owning |
| | and made him into Britain’s national | | | | rebels. And in 1772, in London, Lord |
| | storyteller, with more from the | | | | Mansfield, nudged by the advocacy of |
| | lucrative mainstream. The book trade | | | | Granville Sharp, an abolitionist, judged |
| | would surely have opened up acres of | | | | that Africans could not be transported |
| | space for Mr Schama on Victoria, on | | | | against their will. It sounded good. |
| | Churchill, on Lincoln. | | | | Thousands of slaves, lacking a better |
2 | | But he has done no such thing. On | | | | offer, joined the king’s cause. |
| | the contrary, Mr Schama has deployed | | 6 | | It goes without saying that |
| | his celebrity in the service of an | | | | Britain’s pledge was issued with only |
| | episode which did not even rate a | | | | token expectation that it would need to |
| | footnote in his earlier work – the noble | | | | be honoured – victory would surely |
| | but half-baked attempt to plant a | | | | render it irrelevant. But military |
| | colony of freed American slaves in | | | | incompetence and American resolve |
| | Sierra Leone at the end of the | | | | turned it into a disquieting political |
| | American war of independence in 1776. | | | | reality. After much smudging, a liberal |
| | Anyone who felt that his “A History of | | | | haven was marked out in Sierra Leone. |
| | Britain” skipped a little lightly over the | | | | African-Americans began to go |
| | empire’s adventures overseas (leaving | | | | “home”. |
| | some ugly national skeletons unrattled | | 7 | | It was [id:71988] from the start; what |
| | in the process) [id:71983] . Like a stealthy | | | | began as a rescue mission was later |
| | chef, Mr Schama was pocketing truffles | | | | seen as a “racist deportation”. As |
| | for his own later use. | | | | revolutionary echoes from France |
3 | | He was also returning to the form | | | | made London’s potentates tremble, |
| | of vibrant and cosmopolitan narrative | | | | cargoes of ex-slaves were dumped on a |
| | which entitled him to write “A History | | | | malarial strip of impossible land. Some |
| | of Britain” in the first place. His first | | | | were seized as slaves again; others, in |
| | book, “The Embarrassment of Riches” | | | | an even more horrid reverse, became |
| | (1987), was a meticulous and witty | | | | slavers themselves. It was the only |
| | account of Holland’s artistic golden | | | | business they knew. |
| | age in the 17th century; “Citizens”, his | | 8 | | With dash and cunning, |
| | next work, was a storming narration of | | | | Mr Schama follows his leading |
| | the French revolution, a bloodbath | | | | characters into the shadow that falls |
| | which generations of abstract | | | | across his story. “Histories never |
| | ideologues had managed to drain of | | | | conclude,” he writes. “They just |
| | blood. Now, once again, his articulate | | | | pause.” If it is true that history is not |
| | intelligence plays elegantly over a saga | | | | the past – merely what we have now |
| | full of grim twists. There are heroes | | | | instead of the past – then we must tip |
| | and cowards, fools, chancers and | | | | our caps to Mr Schama for reminding |
| | baffled victims. The doomed migration | | | | us of the grotesque events whose scars |
| | from Nova Scotia to Africa is gripping | | | | still sting today. |
| | and vivid. It stinks of putrid flesh and | | | | |
| | maggots, tar and rope, chains and | | | | The Economist, 2005 |