Despite its gruelling subject matter, Adam Hochschild's study of colonial atrocities in the Belgian Congo of the late-19th century, "King Leopold's Ghost", won praise and prizes. It was a story of official connivance at slavery and genocide, relieved by the presence of remarkable people who campaigned against it, notably Roger Casement and Edmund Morel. Now, in "Bury the Chains", Mr Hochschild turns to an earlier and broader crusade for social justice, the movement to end the slave trade in the British empire. He spares us nothing of the awfulness of the Atlantic traffic and the cruelties that awaited slaves in the sugar plantations of the West Indies. But, as before, the book's true focus is the courage and moral clarity of the anti-slave campaigners. It is not an enjoyable read, but it is stirring and unforgettable.
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