This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

$30.01

Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! See less

$3.99 delivery May 15 - 21. Details

Or fastest delivery May 13 - 16. Details

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$61.46 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Ships from and sold by Half Price Books Inc.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (18) from $34.00 FREE Shipping on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.

Follow the author

Randy M. Browne

Follow

Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean (Early American Studies) Hardcover – August 16, 2017

by Randy M. Browne (Author)

4.9 25 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$61.46","priceAmount":61.46,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"61","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"46","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"bTa%2FEUfp677HcTjnS%2BoYRj3P0IigcRSJfZwi%2BFCwG5Jx2%2BnWi%2BXEvFj5zZvnVigY4UiXF915u92gzwJ7SXgxFrAxanx62HYXzs8K9JU1ITq2DlfbyedpnKu4fQ8esIRwaMs9QO8WqxOmm526Bge51t3yaB6rXdqNSXCMeFsfZ99WBoDTMNnHXTt710Li9dL9","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$30.01","priceAmount":30.01,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"30","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"01","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"bTa%2FEUfp677HcTjnS%2BoYRj3P0IigcRSJPH37fPnsN%2BttBqWX1IS19SrM0gpqBnU4D9IqRUna3sM24saOpyjve6lodBEKpxU2%2FpzywE%2FgnxblbWYMsN4mENyZQcpwswgTn%2BexueHz8b2LOjs%2B%2BeM%2BrmhWcuZHu7Sv%2BkiHsZxr2izsJI6zhF8bgV2mfLedJOql","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Recipient of the 2019 Elsa Goveia Book Prize from the Association of Caribbean Historians

Atlantic slave societies were notorious deathtraps. In Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean, Randy M. Browne looks past the familiar numbers of life and death and into a human drama in which enslaved Africans and their descendants struggled to survive against their enslavers, their environment, and sometimes one another. Grounded in the nineteenth-century British colony of Berbice, one of the Atlantic world's best-documented slave societies and the last frontier of slavery in the British Caribbean, Browne argues that the central problem for most enslaved people was not how to resist or escape slavery but simply how to stay alive.

Guided by the voices of hundreds of enslaved people preserved in an extraordinary set of legal records, Browne reveals a world of Caribbean slavery that is both brutal and breathtakingly intimate. Field laborers invoked abolitionist-inspired legal reforms to protest brutal floggings, spiritual healers conducted secretive nighttime rituals, anxious drivers weighed the competing pressures of managers and the condition of their fellow slaves in the fields, and women fought back against abusive masters and husbands. Browne shows that at the core of enslaved people's complicated relationships with their enslavers and one another was the struggle to live in a world of death.

Provocative and unflinching, Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean reorients the study of Atlantic slavery by revealing how differently enslaved people's social relationships, cultural practices, and political strategies appear when seen in the light of their unrelenting struggle to survive.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press
Publication date

August 16, 2017
Dimensions

9.25 x 0.75 x 6.25 inches
ISBN-10

0812249402
ISBN-13

978-0812249408
See all details

Marjoleine Kars
73
Paperback
43 offers from $7.04
Marisa J. Fuentes
79
Paperback
35 offers from $7.74
Herbert S. Klein
47
Paperback
Captivating History
395
Paperback
17 offers from $2.61

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] deep microhistory, based on fortuitously rich sources that a gifted historian uses to illuminate a previously obscure world with profound humanity . . . Browne's book on Berbice gets us more deeply into the lives of enslaved people in the Caribbean than any other work of nonfiction that comes readily to mind." ― Journal of British Studies

"[A] carefully constructed and deeply researched study that challenges many prevailing perspectives, tropes, and arguments . . . This is a compelling interpretation that adds new layers of complexity to our understanding of the social and political worlds of New World slavery." ― Slavery & Abolition

"Browne's unparalleled examination of the difficult lives of enslaved people makes Surviving Slavery required reading for historians of Atlantic slavery." ― Journal of the Early Republic

"Concisely and elegantly written . . . Surviving Slavery focuses on how slaves, masters, and colonial authorities negotiated the terms of labor, punishment, provisioning, and other quotidian issues. Boasting a rigorous methodology and deep archival research . . . Browne makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the legalities of Atlantic slavery and the varieties of lived experience among the enslaved." ― Journal of Social History

"Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean is a necessary, brilliantly researched, and well-narrated history. It deserves to become standard reading for scholars interested in imperial reform, the practice of imperial law, and the everyday politics of colonial subjects." ― Victorian Studies

"[An] illuminating new monograph on the slave society of Berbice during the era of amelioration . . . What results from Browne's research is a monograph replete with stories of the everyday struggles and conflicts that characterized every Atlantic slave society. Browne has crafted the best portrait of the slave driver to be found in the literature." ― Social History

"Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean provides a cogent reconsideration of the enslaved experience that is well suited for undergraduates as well as academics. Survival, as a theoretical concept, may shed added light on the problem of representing the struggles of those in slavery. More directly, though, Browne’s work gives a close, firsthand view of how enslaved people personally endured the tragedy of bondage in the Americas." ― American Historical Review

Book Description

Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean depicts the human drama in which enslaved Africans struggled against their enslavers and environment, and one another. The book reorients Atlantic slavery studies by revealing how social relationships, cultural practices, and political strategies reflected an unrelenting fight to survive.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Pennsylvania Press (August 16, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812249402
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812249408
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.25 x 0.75 x 6.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,937,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #43 in Guyanan History
- #1,110 in Slavery & Emancipation History
- #10,039 in Discrimination & Racism

Customer Reviews:
4.9 25 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Randy M. Browne

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Randy M. Browne is an award-winning historian of Atlantic slavery and the Caribbean. His first book, Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), won the biennial Elsa Goveia Book Prize from the Association of Caribbean Historians. His work has also been published in the William and Mary Quarterly, the New West Indian Guide, and Slavery & Abolition. Browne teaches history at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5

25 global ratings

5 star

94%

4 star

0%

3 star

6%

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Blake

Adds to Our Understanding of Slave History

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a great book that adds to our understanding of slave history. Focusing on the oft-ignored Berbice, Browne examines the way enslaved people tried to simply survive slavery. While other historians have examined resistance to slavery, Browne contends that most enslaved people did not look for ways to resist slavery - they did not have the privilege to do so. Most enslaved people simply sought ways to survive the horrors of slavery.

This is a great book that adds to our understanding of slavery and how enslaved people survived in the British Caribbean. By using a large body of sources left by slave testimony, Browne offers a glimpse into the thoughts and actions of enslaved people so often overlooked in scholarly writing.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

MD

Valuable contribution to the literature on 19th century slavery

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

Professor Browne's Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean is a well written and thorough analysis of slavery in the Atlantic World during the 19th century that would appeal to both the layman and academic. He focuses on Berbice, a slave society in the British Caribbean, to argue that the real story of slavery is the struggle to survive the horrifically brutal plantation economies, not the fight for freedom as traditional interpretations suggest. It his recovery of the voices of the slaves from Berbice's legal records, however, that makes his book so interesting. Anyone interested in the 19th century Atlantic World, slavery, slave societies, or the Transatlantic Slave Trade should read this wonderful new contribution from Professor Browne.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Christopher W. Luessen

Randy Browne's book takes a broad look at the practices of slave owners and the situations faced by enslaved people to inform the reader about what daily life was like in a Caribbean slave society

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Readable and informative, Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean, paints a vivid picture of just how miserable and bleak the situation was for Atlantic slaves in the Caribbean. Dr. Randy Browne's book takes a broad look at the practices of slave owners and the situations faced by enslaved people to inform the reader about what daily life was like in a Caribbean slave society. The text is aided by a variety of fascinating maps and illustrations that help to depict the places and the people for which mere survival was a daily struggle. Highly recommended!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

JRH

Great book on an important topic

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

Wonderful history of slavery in what is today Guyana. Although today a small country clinging to the northeastern coast of South America, this area was the center of plantation agriculture and slavery in the early-nineteenth century. Browne deftly uses an amazing set of legal records to better understand what slavery was like from the perspective of the enslaved. He allows readers to hear enslaved voices and listen to their wants, desires, and perspectives on living under a harsh plantation regimen. For that reason, this book is important for understanding African slavery in the Caribbean and Americas.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

M.C.

Accessible and captivating

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean is an accessible and captivating account of the thin line between life and death for enslaved people in 19th Century Berbice (present-day Guyana)—and the steps taken by individuals to stay on the right side of that line. Exceptionally researched, the book transports the reader into the not-so-distant past via first-hand accounts from enslaved people themselves. I also found the included illustrations and maps particularly interesting and informative.

You don’t have to be a historian to enjoy and learn from this book. Highly recommended!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

B.D.R.M.

Accessible history

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

I began reading thinking that this might be a dry, heavy account of a difficult topic in an obscure corner of the globe but this history is very accessible. Browne took me to the shores of Berbice and I could feel the heat and smell the river through his writing. The slaves described in this book from so many years ago became individuals with particular fears, hopes and legal grievances. You don't have to be a historian to gain from this book--there is much here for the everyday reader.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Corey Gibson

A great book all around

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

A great book all around. I learned an immense amount about slavery in the British Caribbean. If this is a subject that interests you, this is a must read. If this is a subject that you had no idea about before, like I did when I purchased the book, you are going to learn some very interesting facts about a time period that has been relatively ignored until the publication of this book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

blaise

Recommend to all

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fascinating, and tremendously informative, this is an insightful treasure with perspective that is not found elsewhere. Recommend to all, not just for the historians!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful