Island on Fire
The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire
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Narrated by:
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Mirron Willis
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By:
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Tom Zoellner
About this listen
From a New York Times best-selling author, a gripping account of the slave rebellion that led to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
For five horrific weeks after Christmas in 1831, Jamaica was convulsed by an uprising of its enslaved people. What started as a peaceful labor strike quickly turned into a full-blown revolt, leaving hundreds of plantation houses in smoking ruins. By the time British troops had put down the rebels, more than a thousand Jamaicans lay dead from summary executions and extrajudicial murder.
While the rebels lost their military gamble, their sacrifice accelerated the larger struggle for freedom in the British Atlantic. The daring and suffering of the Jamaicans galvanized public opinion throughout the empire, triggering a decisive turn against slavery. For centuries bondage had fed Britain’s appetite for sugar. Within two years of the Christmas rebellion, slavery was formally abolished.
Island on Fire is a dramatic day-by-day account of this transformative uprising. A skillful storyteller, Tom Zoellner goes back to the primary sources to tell the intimate story of the men and women who rose up and tasted liberty for a few brief weeks. He provides the first full portrait of the rebellion’s enigmatic leader, Samuel Sharpe, and gives us a poignant glimpse of the struggles and dreams of the many Jamaicans who died for liberty.
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The War Before the War
- Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War
- By: Andrew Delbanco
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades after its founding, America was really two nations—one slave, one free. There were many reasons why this composite nation ultimately broke apart, but the fact that enslaved black people repeatedly risked their lives to flee their masters in the South in search of freedom in the North proved that the "united" states was actually a lie. Fugitive slaves exposed the contradiction between the myth that slavery was a benign institution and the reality that a nation based on the principle of human equality was in fact a prison-house in which millions of Americans had no rights.
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Great promise greater disappointment
- By Amazon Customer on 12-09-18
By: Andrew Delbanco
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Life of a Klansman
- A Family History in White Supremacy
- By: Edward Ball
- Narrated by: Edward Ball
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Life of a Klansman tells the story of a warrior in the Ku Klux Klan, a carpenter in Louisiana who took up the cause of fanatical racism during the years after the Civil War. Edward Ball, a descendant of the Klansman, paints a portrait of his family’s anti-Black militant that is part history, part memoir rich in personal detail.
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Thought Provoking, But . . .
- By William G. Stuart on 09-01-20
By: Edward Ball
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The Agitators
- Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women's Rights
- By: Dorothy Wickenden
- Narrated by: Heather Alicia Simms, Anne Twomey, Gabra Zackman, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward. Through exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country.
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Excellent!
- By Nikki on 12-22-21
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Jesse James
- Last Rebel of the Civil War
- By: T. J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 18 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this brilliant biography T. J. Stiles offers a new understanding of the legendary outlaw Jesse James. Although he has often been portrayed as a Robin Hood of the old west, in this ground-breaking work Stiles places James within the context of the bloody conflicts of the Civil War to reveal a much more complicated and significant figure.
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Borderline woke retelling of the era JJ live in
- By Rodney on 08-24-22
By: T. J. Stiles
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The Amistad Rebellion
- An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom
- By: Marcus Rediker
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The slave ship Amistad set sail from Havana on July 2, 1839, on a routine delivery of human cargo. A few days into its voyage, the 53 African captives aboard would seize control and steer a new course - one that took them to freedom and ultimately into history. Though the Amistad rebellion has been celebrated in films and books, its story has largely been told through the eyes of white abolitionists, with the Supreme Court victory by the Africans as the ultimate triumph. Now, Marcus Rediker’s captivating new history turns the lens on the Africans themselves.
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This is a must read for anyone.
- By Laura on 07-24-21
By: Marcus Rediker
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The Patriots
- Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Making of America
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In this masterful narrative, Winston Groom brings his signature storytelling panache to the tale of our nation's most fascinating founding fathers - Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams - painting a vivid picture of the improbable events, bold ideas, and extraordinary characters who created the United States of America.
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For newbies or history buffs
- By SBR72 on 06-06-21
By: Winston Groom
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Bound for Canaan
- The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America's First Civil Rights Movement
- By: Fergus Bordewich
- Narrated by: Peter J. Fernandez
- Length: 19 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Civil War brought to a climax the country's bitter division. But the beginnings of slavery's denouement can be traced to a courageous band of ordinary Americans, black and white, slave and free, who joined forces to create what would come to be known as the Underground Railroad, a movement that occupies as romantic a place in the nation's imagination as the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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The Heroic Missing Piece
- By Paul Frandano on 03-03-17
By: Fergus Bordewich
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Madness Rules the Hour
- Charleston, 1860, and the Mania for War
- By: Paul Starobin
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1860, Charleston, South Carolina, embodied the combustible spirit of the South. No city was more fervently attached to slavery, and no city was seen by the North as a greater threat to the bonds barely holding together the Union. And so, with Abraham Lincoln's election looming, Charleston's leaders faced a climactic decision: They could submit to abolition - or they could drive South Carolina out of the Union and hope that the rest of the South would follow.
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Madness Rules The Hour ...once more
- By Anonymous User on 05-06-21
By: Paul Starobin
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American Rebels
- How the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy Families Fanned the Flames of Revolution
- By: Nina Sankovitch
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Nina Sankovitch’s American Rebels explores, for the first time, the intertwined lives of the Hancock, Quincy, and Adams families, and the role each person played in sparking the American Revolution. American Rebels explores how the desire for independence cut across class lines, binding people together as well as dividing them -rebels versus loyalists - as they pursued commonly held goals of opportunity, liberty, and stability. Nina Sankovitch's new audiobook is a fresh history of our revolution that makes listeners look more closely at Massachusetts.
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I loved this book!
- By John H on 06-22-20
By: Nina Sankovitch
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Dreams of Africa in Alabama
- The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America
- By: Sylviane A. Diouf
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1860, more than 50 years after the United States legally abolished the international slave trade, 110 men, women, and children from Benin and Nigeria were brought ashore in Alabama under cover of night. They were the last recorded group of Africans deported to the United States as slaves. This book reconstructs the lives of the people in West Africa, recounts their capture and passage in the slave pen in Ouidah, and describes their experience of slavery alongside American-born enslaved men and women.
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Should be required reading in all schools.
- By Anonymous User on 12-31-21
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38 Nooses
- Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End
- By: Scott W. Berg
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In August 1862, after decades of broken treaties, increasing hardship, and relentless encroachment on their lands, a group of Dakota warriors convened a council at the tepee of their leader, Little Crow. Knowing the strength and resilience of the young American nation, Little Crow counseled caution, but anger won the day. Forced to either lead his warriors in a war he knew they could not win or leave them to their fates, he declared, "[Little Crow] is not a coward: he will die with you."
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Powerful condemnation of Manifest Destiny
- By Buretto on 09-26-19
By: Scott W. Berg
What listeners say about Island on Fire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-10-21
Learned a lot
As a Jamaican expatriot who was afforded a very good High School Education I was surprised to learn how little I knew of my own roots. I have recommended this book to others and will definitely be listening again to absorb some more to pass on to my grandchild.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Texas87
- 12-09-23
Slave Rebellions were widespread
This is the fascinating history of a major slave rebellion in Jamaica that presaged major changes in the government of Great Britain and the abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean. Americans have been brainwashed into thinking slavery was docile and peaceful when it was anything but. We need more histories on slave rebellions so we can understand the real situation of enslaved Africans.
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- Chris Hummel
- 10-04-22
Important Story Worth Telling
Zoellner's well-written work, beautifully read by Willis, tells the story of the 1831-32 Sam Sharpe Slave Revolt in Jamaica which contributed the end of slavery in all British territories. Working wonders using frequently scant research materials, they provide a picture of a debauched, slave-based society faced with a courageous, largely non-violent work stoppage cum rebellion on a large scale. Though brutally suppressed, the revolt and the methods used to quell it help Baptist missionaries and reform politicians put through long-resisted anti-slavery legislation in the wake of the British Reform Bill of 1830.
I was aware of Britain ending slavery decades before the USA, but unaware or only dimly aware of the role of revolt in producing that change. This book is vital reading for those interested in British, Caribbean (especially Jamaican), or broader American history. Highly recommended.
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- Millz
- 02-01-24
Knowing the history of my ancestors and their struggles.
1831 was a year of change. My grandfather was born in 1932 and his father was a freeman, unfortunately his grandfather was a Slave. I’ve learned so much about the history of my country. Very much appreciate this book.
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- Dylan S
- 03-14-21
History at it's best!
A must read. This is a facanating, heart wrenching story. A bonus that it's well read.
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- Adding
- 07-26-23
Must Listen to understand modern Jamaica
Detailed review of slavery in Jamaica and the uprising against it. Excellent story telling of the people and places and how its effects continue to define politics and economics in present day.
As a descendant of Jamaicans, I learned a lot with a few different details than the way I learned it. Very well organized and well presented. Leaves me wanting a sequel of the developments to present day
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- Ilene
- 03-24-24
Superb audiobook
Excellent narration and a compelling subject. I learned so much and I plan on listening to it again. Highly recommend!
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- O. Buraimoh
- 12-27-20
Heinous and Barbaric
There are no other words to describe the treatment of Africans by Europeans in Jamaica. Heinous and barbaric, to say the least and Tom Zoellner told the story exceptionally well. This is a must read for anyone wanting to know the history of Jamaicans, and indeed the history of enslaved peoples all over the world.
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- Joel Silberman
- 04-07-21
This is a must read!
Brilliantly written and very well read. Harrowing at first, then ultimately profoundly inspiring. Stick through the wrenching descriptions about the horrors of slavery. It makes the miracle of liberation all the more momentous.
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- elbgwn
- 01-11-22
Fascinating
Excellent history of the uprising of enslaved people in Jamaica. I learned so much! Highly recommended.
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