SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA - Tapa dura

This is an excellent addition to any Civil War or American history library. (Richard Sauers, The Civil War News)

This is a gripping tale of the African and African American experience, full of drama, tragedy, and courage. The Hortons demonstrate their wide mastery of the literature, telling the tragic and triumphant story of the 'peculiar institution' through the words and experiences of the people who lived it. (Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University)

The Hortons have long been among the most distinguished scholars working on the history of slavery, and their newest book exhibits their signature qualities: wide research, interpretive balance and crisp, accessible prose and a wealth of visual material. If the book contains few revelations for specialists, it is apt to be eye-opening for the popular audiences.... A remarkably dispassionate book that never succumbs to pathos or preachiness. (James T. Campbell, Washington Post Book World)

The oft-told tale is made fresh through up-to-date slavery scholarship, the extensive use of slave narratives and archival photos and, especially, a focus on individual experience. The well-known players (Attucks, Vesey, Tubman, Douglass) appear, but so do the more anonymous ones (the planter's wife and the slave driver share space with the abolitionist and the Confederate soldier, and all are skillfully etched. As the Hortons chronicle lives from freedom in Africa to slavery in America and beyond, they tell an integral American story, a tale not of juxtaposition but of edgy oneness.)

A terrific historical account of the roles and influence that the black slaves made on the United States. The Hortons provide an insightful look on how the slaves impacted all aspects of culture. The authors pull no punches while making a solid logical argument with strong supporting evidence that blacks were major players in the colonial and birth of a nation America. Especially interesting is the deep look at various roles and of unknown people. Anecdotal reciting and photographs augment this superb account of how much the black slaves influenced America. Easy to read but difficult to put down because the book is so engrossing, this is a fabulous tome that history buffs will take immense delight in as the Hortons make their case quite interesting as they shatter preconceptions of early American History with insightfulness. (Harriet Klausner, The Midwest Book Review)

Shows how the history of American slavery and the history of the American nation are intertwined and how the effects of slavery continued well after its official abolition during the Civil War. Rare illustrations and scrupulous attention to the viewpoint of the slaves make this account especially interesting. (The Tampa Tribune)

Dissects the incredible influences of the terrible moral fault in our history. (The Nashville City Paper)

An excellent guide to an often difficult subject. Complete with dozens of images, a chronology of events, a list of recommended readings and website suggestions, Slavery and the Making of America is an up-to-date book, which offers not only a strong central storyline but also resources for further study. (North & South)

Ambitious.... Revises the historical record and overturns long-held beliefs about the institution of slavery and what it has meant to the country. (The Denver Post)

Brings the appalling history of slavery into an especially clear focus by laying out of a fuller, more detailed historical/cultural timeline. (The Stamford Advocate)

The history of slavery is central to understanding the history of the United States. Slavery and the Making of America offers a richly illustrated, vividly written history that illuminates the human side of this inhumane institution, presenting it largely through stories of the slaves themselves.

Readers will discover a wide ranging and sharply nuanced look at American slavery, from the first Africans brought to British colonies in the early seventeenth century to the end of Reconstruction. The authors document the horrors of slavery, particularly in the deep South, and describe the slaves' valiant struggles to free themselves from bondage. There are dramatic tales of escape by slaves such as William and Ellen Craft and Dred Scott's doomed attempt to win his freedom through the Supreme Court. We see how slavery engendered violence in our nation, from bloody confrontations that broke out in American cities over fugitive slaves, to the cataclysm of the Civil War. The book is also filled with stories of remarkable African Americans like Sergeant William H. Carney, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery at the crucial assault on Fort Wagner during the Civil War, and Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, a former slave who led freed African Americans to a new life on the American frontier. Filled with absorbing and inspirational accounts highlighted by more than one hundred pictures and illustrations, Slavery and the Making of America is a gripping account of the struggles of African Americans against the iniquity of slavery.