ROUGH CROSSINGS: BRITAIN, THE SLAVES AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated 1st edn.FINE+/FINE. No owner inscrptn but price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,matt,sepia photographic illustrated dw/dj with author's capitalised,glossy,brown-lettered name and capitalised,glossy white-lettered part title+sub-title and publisher's matt colophon; spine/backstrip with capitalised,glossy brown-letteredauthor name,part-title and publisher's colophon to foot of same,rear panel of dw/dj with contemporary sepia ship and seascape photograph.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+ fore-edges minimally toned; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips – appears unread, apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean/ unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain dark brown cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,9-447pp [paginated] includes Dramatis Personae,British Freedom's Promise,Pts 1+2 comprising 8 and 4 chapters respectively; Endings and Beginnings - as the Epilogue,16pp of historically contemporary b/w+ colour illustration reproductions in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,etween pp160/61 and pp288/89 respectively, Chronology,Notes and References,Further Reading,an Index,Acknowledgements and Picture Credits; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a Contents list/ table,a dedication and double-page. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation,for a book of its 19+ year-old age.It really is an exceptional, exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults. 'Rough Crossings' is the astonishing story of the struggle to freedom by thousands of African-American slaves who fled the plantations to fight behind British lines in the American War of Independence. With gripping, powerfully vivid story-telling, Simon Schama follows the escaped blacks into the fires of the war, and into freezing, inhospitable Nova Scotia where many who had served the Crown were betrayed in their promises to receive land at the war's end. Their fate became entwined with British abolitionists: inspirational figures such as Granville Sharp, the flute-playing father-figure of slave freedom, and John Clarkson, the 'Moses' of this great exodus, who accompanied the blacks on their final rough crossing to Africa, wher they hoped that freedom would finally greet them. Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution and its aftermath,'Rough Crossings' is the astonishing epic of the struggle for freedom for thousands of slaves who blieved thattheir future as free men and women was bound uo with staying British,not becoming American. The decision to offer liberty to slaves who defected to the British side began as military strategy,but it unleashed a great mass movement of Afro-Americans who clung to the sentimental notion of British freedom even when they knew that the emancipators were very far from being saints in the matter of slavery. Although the extraordiary story that unfolds in 'Rough Crossings' would ultimately prove to be bitterly tragic, it was not without its moments of redemption, promises kept as well as betrayed.If there is heartbreak waiting in its pages there is also rejoicing. No one who reads it will ever feel the same way again about what it means to be British,American - and black. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **