Rough Crossings by Simon Schama (2006, Abridged, Compact Disc)

Faced with the prospect of the Revolutionary War, the British government offered freedom to colonial slaves who would join their forces. After its defeat, though for reasons more complicated than altruistic, the Crown honored its promise. Does this mean that Blacks would have fared better had Britain won the war? To answer that – a qualified “No” -- Schama details the very beginning of the emancipation movement, taking the reader back and forth across the Atlantic from America to England, to a disastrous experimental colony in Nova Scotia and on to a temporarily more successful one in Sierra Leone. The sweeping scope of this work, the political and legal intricacies of the British system and a large cast of unfamiliar heroes and villains, both Black and white, reveal a rich multitude of fascinating and surprising facts. Simon Schama is a talented narrator with a clear, pleasant and highly expressive voice. He makes the hopes, fears and disappointments of the emancipated slaves and their champions come fully alive.