Owned?: No, library
Page count: 265
My summary: In the history of uprisings against slavery, there are many times and places that are not mentioned. History remembers the Haitian Revolution, the revolt that ultimately led to Haiti's freedom from slavery - but similar, less immediately successful uprisings are forgotten. In Demerara (modern Guyana) in 1823, there was an uprising that was quashed, leading to the brutal punishment of many involved. But just because freedom was not gained that day does not mean that the events are not worth remembering. For Jack Gladstone, for Quamina, for John Smith, and for anyone who fought for their liberty.
My rating: 3.5/5
My commentary:
Still doing research! I am reading fiction at the minute, but my current fiction book is the latest Outlander so, you know, it's taking some time. This is, I shall admit, not necessarily relevant to the book I intend to write (said book being set over a hundred years earlier and all), but I want to go into my story with a more rounded knowledge of the state of colonisation in the Caribbean. I know a fair amount about Haiti, or Tacky, or Nanny of the Maroons, but there were other rebellions and people resisting their enslavement that are not as commonly spoken about. Enter this book - I'll admit that, like Harding, I hadn't heard of the Demerara Uprising before, or really considered where Demerara might be outside of 'where that type of sugar comes from'. The story itself is interesting, that of rebel Jack Gladstone and his family who enacted a largely nonviolent resistance against their enslavers, and were punished for it, along with white missionary John Smith who was blamed for inciting the uprising. Where this book falls down isâŠwell, you can see that the title is White Debt, but it could just as well be White Guilt, given Harding's handwringing about his family's involvement in the slave trade. Don't get me wrong, he's got a good heart and seems very well-meaning, butâŠwell, I'll elaborate on that in a bit.
The actual content of the book is really interesting! It's an account of the Uprising, starting with its roots with leaders Jack Gladstone and his father Quamina, and the situations that led them to consider taking their freedoms when they did. And also the aftermath - the mass execution of people involved or suspected to be involved with the uprising, the brutal treatment of Quamina's body after his death, and Jack's sentence of death which was later commuted to imprisonment in a penal colony. (Jack falls out of the record after that, and his fate is somewhat uncertain.) It once again displays the hypocrisies of the system of slavery; the lie that enslaved people were well-treated, the reality of the harsh and often arbitrary punishments, the brutal treatment of people involved in a largely non-violent uprising (very few white people were killed), and the pro-slavery attitudes that were openly in favour of commerce over human lives. It's a lesser known story, but absolutely one that deserves to be told - especially as, Harding argues, the uprising itself cannot necessarily be classed as 'unsuccessful'. Sure, the resistance was quashed, but the aftermath of the event rippled throughout British society, and may have been a factor in emancipation, which happened not too long after. (The Slavery Abolition Act was in 1833.) Small comfort for Jack, Quamina, and the other people who were killed after the uprising. But significant, nonetheless.
In between, however, are accounts of Harding's visit to Guyana and musings on the idea of the titular white debt - the debt both of recognition of Britain's role in slavery and a more literal reparation due to those descended from the enslaved. And thisâŠcomes across as very Baby's First Exposure To The Idea Of His Own White Privilege. Don't get me wrong, he's well-meaning (and I understand the instinct, as a fellow white person) but his way of going about it seems a bit too heavy-handed for me, a little too unsubtle. He makes some good points about Britain's denying of its role in slavery (the attitude that we were barely involved, were the 'good guys', or at least were better than the Americans and that makes us morally superior forever) and the complex feelings that this has induced in him, as a white Jewish man whose ancestors benefited from slavery, and were also subject to intense oppression and literally paid compensation from Germany for what they were subject to during the Holocaust. But his way of talking about it sounds like he's just discovered that racism existed and that he is somewhat complicit as a white man, whichâŠhe was fifty four years old on this book's publication. Little late to the party there, Harding. But it's not bad, as I say it's well-intentioned, it's just a little cringey to read at times. And I'll take 'a little cringey' over 'blatantly bigoted' any day.
My Review: Thomas Hardingâs THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE - history writing at itâs finest
This is history writing at itâs finest. Taking a small microcosm to tell the story of a country over the last 100 years.
On a trip to Berlin in 2013 author Thomas Harding visited the summer lake house his great-grandfather built. Upon discovering the house in disrepair and scheduled for demolition Harding began researching the history of the house and itâs occupants. Harding traces back the storyâŠ
Nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs hat das British War Crimes Investigation Team die Aufgabe, Nazi-FunktionĂ€re aufzuspĂŒren, die fĂŒr die grausamsten Verbrechen verantwortlich waren, die die Welt bisher gesehen hatte.
Die Gefangennahme des Kommandanten von Auschwitz
Mitglied des Teams ist Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, ein deutscher Jude, der mit seiner Familie ins Exil getrieben wurde und nun inâŠ
Book Review: âHanns and Rudolfâ by Thomas Harding
Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz by Thomas Harding is a non-fiction book detailing the capture of the notorious and elusive Rudolf Höss. Mr. Harding started researching his family history and discovered an amazing story. He heard that his relative tracked down the notorious criminal and, while investigating, wrote this book.
