R. J. M. Blackett

Making Freedom is a fine overview of the underground railroad in the period before the fugitive slave act and afterwards, including the impact of the act on slave escapes, and the resulting resistance to the act's enforcement. It accomplishes this in a concise and interesting fashion.

It could have profited from stricter editing: for example, the explanation of the Christina, Pennsylvania resistance (which resulted in the slave owner being killed while attempting to reclaim his former slave) appeared after its first reference.

Overall, the book was a good introduction to the underground railroad.… (más)