The Black Joke: The True Story of One British Ship's Battle Against the Slave Trade

Longlisted for the Mountbatten Maritime Media Awards 2022, "The Black Joke: A History of the British Royal Navy's Anti-Slavery Squadron" is a groundbreaking account of the Black Joke, the most famous member of the British Royal Navy's anti-slavery squadron, and the long fight to end the transatlantic slave trade. Initially a slaving vessel, the Black Joke was captured in 1827 and repurposed by the Royal Navy to catch its former compatriots. Over the next five years, the vessel liberated more enslaved people than any other in Britain's West Africa Squadron.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 03 February 2022
Publisher: Icon Books

A groundbreaking account of the Black Joke, the most renowned member of the British Royal Navy's anti-slavery squadron, and the protracted struggle to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. Initially a slaving vessel, the Black Joke was captured in 1827 and repurposed by the Royal Navy to capture its former compatriots. Over the next five years, the vessel liberated more enslaved people than any other in Britain's West Africa Squadron. As Britain sought to extinguish the transatlantic slave trade through treaty and negotiation, enforcing these policies fell upon ships such as the Black Joke, as they engaged in battles with slavers, weathered catastrophic weather events, and experienced interpersonal dramas among captains and crew that resonated across vast oceans.

The Black Joke stands as a seminal and profoundly compelling work of history, serving as a profound reflection on slavery and abolition as well as an illuminating lesson about the potency of political determination, or the absence thereof.

Weight: 724g
Dimension: 163 x 241 x 40 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781785788437