Blood Legacy

Name: Blood Legacy
Brand: Allen & Unwin
SKU: 9781786898890
Price: 27.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

Reckoning With a Family’s Story of Slavery

By Alex Renton

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4.29

( 223 ratings, 38 reviews)

Summary

Blood Legacy by Alex Renton delves into the intergenerational impact of colonialism and the inheritance of wealth derived from the slave trade. It explores Renton's personal family history, shedding light on Britain's involvement in slavery through a narrative that combines memoir, history, and a reflection on accountability and reparative justice.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$27⁹⁹

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Blood Legacy

$27⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

If you're intrigued by delving into the complex narratives woven through history, this book offers a compelling exploration of a family's entanglements with slavery and its enduring effects. It may appeal to readers who are interested in personal stories that illuminate broader social and historical contexts, unpacking how ancestry and past injustices continue to shape our present.

One man's personal discovery of his family's involvement in transatlantic slavery leads to his call for a wider reckoning among the descendants of slave owners.

Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 'An incredible work of scholarship' - Sathnam Sanghera

Through the story of his own family's history as slave and plantation owners, Alex Renton looks at how we owe it to the present to understand the legacy of the past. When British Caribbean slavery was abolished across most of the British Empire in 1833, it was not the newly liberated who received compensation, but the tens of thousands of enslavers who were paid millions of pounds in government money. The descendants of some of those slave owners are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in Britain today.

Blood Legacy explores what inheritance—political, economic, moral, and spiritual—has been passed to the descendants of the slave owners and the descendants of the enslaved. He also asks, crucially, how the former—himself among them—can begin to make reparations for the past.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Blood Legacy by Alex Renton has been praised as a courageous and honest account, delving into his family's role in the history of enslavement. Critics commend Renton's ability to dismantle myths with remarkable scholarship and the book's emphasis on class issues. It is noted for its unflinching examination of inherited legacies and its contribution to the conversation about Britain's imperial past. This work is described as both a personal and broader historical exploration, encouraging reflection on reparations and the legacy of exploitation.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781786898890

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 May 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Canongate Books

Edition: Main

Illustration: Integrated b/w images throughout

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 267g

Pages: 400

Collections

Alex Renton History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction

About the Author

Alex Renton is a journalist who has won awards for his work as an investigator, war correspondent and food policy writer. He has also worked for Oxfam, in East Asia, Haiti and on the Iraq war. Most recently he has been a columnist on the Times and a correspondent for Newsweek magazine. He lives in Edinburgh with his family.

@axrenton | alexrenton.com