Synopses & Reviews
During the American Revolution, thousands of slaves fled from their masters to find freedom with the British. Having emancipated themselvesand with rhetoric about the inalienable rights of free men ringing in their earsthese men and women struggled tenaciously to make liberty a reality in their lives. This alternative narrative includes the stories of dozens of individualsincluding Harry, one of George Washingtons slaveswho left America and forged difficult new lives in far-flung corners of the British Empire. Written in the best tradition of history from the bottom up, this pathbreaking work will alter the way we think about the American Revolution.
Epic Journeys of Freedom is a well-written and engaging narrative history that also happens to be the fruit of prodigious research.” George M. Fredrickson, New York Review of Books
What a gripping narrative . . . an awesome achievement.” Alfred F. Young, author of The Shoemaker and the Tea Party
Cassandra Pybus is Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow in History at the University of Sydney. An award-winning author who has written ten books, she is a frequent Fulbright professor and international fellow at American universities.
Review
"This gripping and enlightening book . . . [is] an impressive and extremely important work. Readers will obtain a much greater understanding of an aspect of the American Revolution that finally gets some much-deserved scholarship."
Review
"A significant contribution to contemporary studies of the Black Atlantic."
Review
What Pybus offers is a collective biography, made possible through her painstakingbreathtakingexamination . . . rich and wonderful.” Jill Lepore The New Yorker
This gripping and enlightening book . . . [is] an impressive and extremely important work. Readers will obtain a much greater understanding of an aspect of the American Revolution that finally gets some much-deserved scholarship.”
Library Journal Starred
A significant contribution to contemporary studies of the Black Atlantic.”
Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
During the American Revolution, thousands of slaves fled from their masters to find freedom with the British. Having emancipated themselves--and with rhetoric about the inalienable rights of free men ringing in their ears--these men and women struggled tenaciously to make liberty a reality in their lives.
This alternative narrative includes the stories of dozens of individuals--including Harry, one of George Washington's slaves--who left America and forged difficult new lives in far-flung corners of the British Empire. Written in the best tradition of history from the bottom up, this pathbreaking work will alter the way we think about the American Revolution.
About the Author
Cassandra Pybus holds the Australian Research Council Chair of History at the University of Tasmania. An award-winning author who has written ten books, she is a frequent Fulbright professor and international fellow at American universities.