Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History - REVIEW

by Linford D. Fisher

Although the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619, European slavery in America began more than a century before. In a work distinguished not only by its original research but by its “passionate prose” (James F. Brooks), historian Linford Fisher demonstrates how the enslavement of Indigenous people began in the years just after 1492, ensnaring an estimated three to six million Natives throughout the Americas. Although largely erased from the public consciousness, Native enslavement continued for centuries to become a colossal phenomenon that affected nearly 600,000 Native Americans in North America alone, revealing the shocking truth that American colonizers enslaved Natives in roughly the same numbers as they imported enslaved Africans.

From Virginia to California, from New England to Barbados, Stealing America traces the history of Indigenous enslavement and land dispossession, detailing how colonizers captured Natives and often deliberately mislabeled them as Black slaves to avoid detection. While the American Revolution pealed the bells of freedom for colonists, it paved a larcenous trail of westward expansion that subsequently plundered Indigenous land and stole the labor of Natives from nations like the Cherokee, Navajo, Nisean, and many others. “This double theft,” Fisher writes, “was central to the origins, growth, and eventual success of the English colonies and the United States―not just initially but throughout all of American history.”

In this expansive narrative, Fisher weaves together accounts of major episodes in American history including early colonization, the American Revolution, and the Civil War with lesser-known stories of Native enslavement and land loss. Fisher upends conventional histories about the nature of American slavery, revealing enslaved Natives in places we have overlooked, including southern antebellum plantations and the nineteenth-century American West. After Congress outlawed Native slavery in 1867, Americans forced Indigenous children into boarding schools and white homes, where they labored under forced assimilation. This practice was not reformed until the latter twentieth century, when Native nations finally secured increasing rights and self-determination.

Nearly fifteen years in the making, this magisterial volume not only uncovers a five-century genocidal history but also illuminates the myriad ways Native Americans have fought for their sovereignty and maintained community. The most comprehensive work of its kind, Stealing America emerges as a saga of both persistent colonialism and Indigenous resilience, one that reframes American history at its core. 90 illustrations; 19 maps.

Linford D. Fisher is an associate professor of history at Brown University. The author of The Indian Great Awakening and principal investigator of the Stolen Relations project, he lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Liveright
ISBN-13: 978-1324094951

Empire Without End: A New History of Britain and the Caribbean - REVIEW

by Imaobong Umoren

A powerful, groundbreaking new history of Britain and the Caribbean, challenging existing thinking about British colonization and recontextualizing the twin stories of contemporary inequality in both regions.

In Empire Without End, historian Imaobong Umoren delivers an incisive and captivating exploration of the deep, complex ties between Britain and the Caribbean—largely underexamined until now. Spanning from the 16th century to the present, this riveting narrative redefines how we view the Caribbean—not just as a source of labor and resources for the British Empire, but as a dynamic testing ground for social and cultural experimentation. Umoren uncovers how the Caribbean shaped British societal ideals, many of which were exported back to Britain, laying the foundation for a racial-caste system that still affects social, political, and economic life today.

This deeply researched work goes beyond historical accounts of sugar plantations and slavery. Umoren dives deeper, exploring how religion, global migration, war, grassroots protest, and even tourism all played into the Caribbean’s lasting legacy. She boldly connects the dots to modern-day issues, arguing that the shadow of British colonization lingers through neo-colonialism, continuing to shape the lives of Caribbean people. As the world confronts a collective racial reckoning, Empire Without End sheds light on the ongoing fight for reparations and justice, offering a much-needed lens on history’s unfinished business.

Written with clarity and packed with profound insights, Empire Without End is a must-read for anyone curious about the intertwined histories of Britain, the Caribbean, and America. Joining the ranks of acclaimed historical titles like Black Ghosts of Empire and works by Ta-Nehisi Coates, this book provides a fresh, urgent perspective on empire’s enduring impact and the global conversation it demands today.

Imaobong Umoren is a historian of racism, women and gender in the Caribbean, Britain, and wider African diaspora. She is an Associate Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Scribner
ISBN-13: 978-1982175016

Nebraska: Poems by Kwame Dawes - REVIEW

Kwame Dawes is not a native Nebraskan. Born in Ghana, he later moved to Jamaica where he spent most of his childhood and early adulthood. In 1992, he relocated to the United States and eventually found himself an American living in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

This beautiful and evocative collection of poems, Nebraska, explores a constant theme in Dawes's work-the intersection of memory, home, and artistic invention. The poems, set against the backdrop of Nebraska's discrete cycle of seasons, are meditative even as they search for a sense of place in a new landscape. While he shovels snow or walks in the bitter cold to his car, he is engulfed with memories of Kingston, and yet when he travels, he finds himself longing for the open space of the plains and the first snowfall. With a strong sense of place and haunting memories, Dawes grapples with life in Nebraska as a transplant. 

Kwame Dawes is Chancellor's Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner at the University of Nebraska­ Lincoln. He is the author of twenty-one books of poetry and author or editor of numerous other books of poetry, fiction, criticism, and essays. Dawes's most recent books include the poetry collections City of Bones: A Testament and Punta de Burro and the novel Bivouac. He is director of the African Poetry Book Fund, editor of the award-winning African Poetry Book series, and artistic director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. The winner of numerous awards for his writing and service to the literary community, Dawes was elected a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets, named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2,018, and won the prestigious Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry in 2019. 

Nebraska: Poems by Kwame Dawes
University of Nebraska Press
ISBN 978-1-4962-2123-0 US $19.95 
nebraskapress.unl.edu