A readable and compelling narrative on slaves who sought freedom through the Underground Railroad.--
Florida Historical Quarterly This slender volume packs a powerful punch. R. J. M. Blackett selects compelling stories that convey the deep and extensive networks essential to the operation of the Underground Railroad, its corrosive effect on the slave system, and role in the ultimate demise of slavery.--
Ohio Valley History Gracefully written. . . . Clear and supported by evidence.--
The North Carolina Historical Review [A] riveting book.--
Journal of Southern History Blackett delivers many vivid accounts of escapes. . . as well as an illuminating discussion of slave catching and the organized kidnapping of free blacks.--
Journal of Interdisciplinary History Employ[s] memorable microhistories that open[s] the door to . . . big interpretive questions.--
Louisiana History A must-read for all scholars of American slavery and the [Underground Railroad]--
West Virginia History Making Freedom is a well-written and informative volume that provides valuable insights into the thinking undergirding the actions of freedom seekers and their supporters.--
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography It deserves its place on the growing shelf of studies of the Underground Railroad.--
The Annals of Iowa Perceptively demonstrates that although marginalized, oppressed, and persecuted, formerly enslaved African Americans impacted 'the politics of scale' and determined the trajectory of the slavery debate in the United States.--
Journal of African American History
R. J. M. Blackett is Andrew Jackson Professor of History at Vanderbilt University and author of Divided Hearts: Britain and the American Civil War, among other books.