Slavery and Human Progress

Davis, David Brion

ISBN 10: 0195037332 / ISBN 13: 9780195037333

Published by Oxford University Press, 1986

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0195037332I4N00

Synopsis:

Pulitzer Prize-winner David Brion Davis here provides a penetrating survey of slavery and emancipation throughout world history--from ancient times to the 20th century. He demonstrates that slavery, once regarded as a form of human progress, played a crucial part in the expansion of the Western world, and that not until the 18th and 19th centuries did views of slavery as a retrograde institution gain far-reaching acceptance.

Illuminating this momentous historical shift from "progressive" slavery to "progressive" emancipation, Davis ranges over a wide array of important developments--from the transition from white to black slavery, to the impact of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, to 20th-century debates about slavery in the League of Nations and the U.N. He probes the intricate connections among slavery, emancipation, and the idea of progress, shedding new light on two crucial issues--the human capacity for dignifying acts of oppression and the problems of implementing social change--and placing the most recent international debate about freedom and human rights into much-needed perspective.

Review: This is a work of impressive scholarship, and is probably definitive. (Geographical Magazine)

Bibliographic Details

Title: Slavery and Human Progress
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 1986
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket