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The Zorg
A True Story of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery
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The riveting, shocking true story of the 18th century slave ship the Zorg that inspired the abolition of slavery. A WATERSTONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2026 'A horrific tale of the slave trade, destined to become a classic' - New York Times History Writers Association Non-Fiction...
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Description
The riveting, shocking true story of the 18th century slave ship the Zorg that inspired the abolition of slavery.
A WATERSTONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2026
'A horrific tale of the slave trade, destined to become a classic' - New York Times
- History Writers Association Non-Fiction Crown Longlist 2026
- PEN Literary Award Finalist 2026
- New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2025
- Time's 100 Must Read Books of 2025
- The New Yorker 12 Essential Non-Fiction Reads 2025
From the author of New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Cobalt Red, discover the shocking true story and riveting account of the 18th century slave ship whose journey from the high seas to the High Court sparked the human rights campaign to end the slave trade. Perfect for fans of David Grann's The Wager and The Wide, Wide Sea by Hampton Sides.
In 1781, the Zorg set off from the Netherlands to buy slaves in West Africa to sell in the Caribbean. By the time its journey ended, the Zorg became the first undeniable argument against slavery.
When a series of unpredictable weather events and navigational errors led to the Zorg sailing off course and running low on supplies, the crew's solution was to throw more than a hundred slaves overboard in order to save themselves and the most valuable slaves. The ship's owners then claimed their loss on insurance.
The insurers refused to pay the claim due to the unusually high mortality rate of the slaves on board, leading to a trial which initially found in favour of the ship's owners, with the slaves equated to horses with a compensation value of β¬30 per slave. Due to the outrage of one man present in court that day who wrote an anonymous letter to the press objecting to the result, a retrial was held.
For the first time, concepts such as human rights and morality entered the discourse on slavery in a courtroom case that boiled down to a simple yet profound question: Were the Africans on board people or cargo?
In this riveting book, bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Siddharth Kara brings the true horror of the Atlantic slave trade to life.
The case catapulted the emerging anti-slavery movement to one of the most consequential moral campaigns that changed the course of history.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781804997925
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 24 September 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin (Transworld)
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 20.0mm
Width: 127.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 226g
Pages: 304
About the Author
Siddharth Kara is an author, researcher, and activist on modern slavery. Kara has written several books and reports on slavery and child labour, most recently the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Cobalt Red. Kara also won the Frederick Douglass Book Prize. He has lectured at Harvard University and held a professorship at the University of Nottingham. He divides his time between Los Angeles and London.
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The Zorg
The riveting tale of the 18th century slave ship voyage of The Zorg that led to the abolition of slavery. From the New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red, discover the incredible true story and page-turning account of the 18th century slave ship, often known as the Zong yet actually named the Zorg, that sparked the human rights campaign...Paperback$4000Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips early November -
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