A pretty amazing and well researched book. Approximately 200 pages, including 52 pages of notes.

Two "princes" went from Southern Africa (on the east side of the continent) to Madagascar to Jamaica to UK and then back to Africa with a stop in Brazil ... and this happened from about 1716 to 1723. To have unraveled this story is pretty amazing.

There is a lot of interesting history in this book, like how the trading companies manipulated wording in the contracts and would turn a blind eye to slave trading. And how the princes also (likely) turned a blind eye during transport. And how the princes handled themselves and lived in London.

The British did their best to teach the princes to read and write and become civilized and Christian.

Debating between 4 and 5 stars. Deciding to round up to 5 stars, because I felt that I learned somethings about this time period that I'd either missed or hadn't fully realized. The Two Princes of Mpfumo was quite interesting and worth reading, especially if you like non-fiction/history.

Honestly ... I didn't read the notes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and University of Pennsylvania Press for the opportunity to read the advance read copy of The Two Princes of Mpfumo in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication date is Feb 13, 2025.

As a resident of East Africa this was such an interesting historical account! As a slave narrative it was hard to read but so necessary. Though we do not know the real names of the two prince's it is good to at least have their story retold in honour of their struggle and others like them.

I had never heard about this before and was excited to learn about something that I never heard of before. I was engaged with the story being told and thought the overall concept was well done. It felt like it was researched well and glad I was able to learn about this. Lindsay O'Neill has a strong writing style and hope to read more from the author.