An incredible story I had never heard of before. The first part of the book really takes you through the horrors of the Atlantic Slave trade in deep and thorough detail. Then it turns to a legal thriller that keeps moving. Finally, the tale of the abolition of slavery in England. An overall fantastic read and one that all students of history should pick up.

Thank you NetGalley! This nonfiction account of the slave ship, Zorg, is intensely researched. This book would be an excellent resource material but I felt just as an informative read it wasn’t as engaging. Zorg’s acting captain Robert Stubbs was behind the heinous act of throwing 100 live slaves overboard after the true captain, Luke Collingwood, died, he then tried to collect insurance on his “losses”. Horrific part of history.

Kara presents a very will researched and empathetic telling of this horrific event. I had first heard of this ship from M. NourbeSe Philip's poem Zong!, so I thought I knew the whole story before I picked up this book. However, Kara presents all the details, as uncomfortable and sickening they might be, to paint a complete picture of the before, during, and after of the Zorg. I appreciated the narrative structure infused throughout, it really helped to visualize the lost perspectives of all the slaves aboard. The information was distilled in such a way that made it easy to understand, without feeling like the author dumbed it down for readers. This is a book everyone should pick up and read eventually.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced digital copy via NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Well written. There are many things I didn't know which males the reading educational. One to look out for.

The Zorg is a story of the ship (commonly but mistakenly called the Zong) from which scores of slaves were tossed overboard and drowned, and the subsequent effects on law and society.

There are two enslaved people on the ship who are specifically mentioned in crewmember accounts. In this book, they are given names and a bit more attention in the narrative. This had a similar effect to the girl in the red dress in black-and-white Schindler’s List. Crimes against humanity are difficult enough to think about in the abstract; given a face or a name, they are unbearable, as they should be.

Notably, the crew of the ship are also humanized. We learn some of their stories. It would be easy to see them as one dimensional. Unfortunately, evil people do not appear as such all the time. A person can love their family and mourn their loved ones and also do great evil. A person can be competent and skilled in some areas and also engage in atrocities. The reader waits for one of these men to become a hero, and that moment never comes.

Overall, an exceptional and thorough account of a dark time in history. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review this book.

What a conclusion!

I started this book and wasn’t sure I was going to like it (if like is the term which can be applied to a book about the horrific murder of more than a hundred people) because it felt very scattered. I do stand by that assessment, but I also struggle to think of a way Kara could have cast such a wide net without it feeling that way.

Ultimately, this is a well-researched book with substantial backing in evidence. But the thing that makes it good is the humanity which Kara returns to people whose personhood was violently stolen.