Horrors of Slavery
Price: $24.95
Subtitle: Or, The American Tars in
Tripoli
Author: William Ray
Editor: Hester Blum
Subject: American Studies , Literary Studies , History
Paper ISBN 978-0-8135-4413-7
Cloth ISBN 978-0-8135-4412-0
Pages: 272 pages
Publication Date: November 2008
Series: Subterranean Lives
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the Table of
Contents
Description:
Barbary pirates
in Africa targeted sailors for centuries, often taking slaves and
demanding ransom in exchange. First published in 1808, Horrors of
Slavery is the tale of one such sailor, captured during the United
States's first military encounter with the Islamic world, the
Tripolitan War. William Ray, along with three hundred crewmates, spent
nineteen months in captivity after his ship, the Philadelphia,
ran aground in the harbor of Tripoli. Imprisoned, Ray witnessed-and
chronicled-many of the key moments of the military engagement. In
addition to offering a compelling history of a little-known war, this
book presents the valuable perspective of an ordinary seaman who was as
concerned with the injustices of the U.S. Navy as he was with Barbary
pirates.
Hester Blum's introduction situates Horrors of Slavery in its
literary, historical, and political contexts, bringing to light a
crucial episode in the early history of our country's relations with
Islamic states.
About the Author:
Hester Blum is
an assistant professor of English at Penn State University. She is the
author of The View from the Masthead: Maritime Imagination and
Antebellum American Sea Narratives
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Price: $24.95
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