Rediker employed numerous resources to write this work that helps the reader understand the slave trade from start to end. Who contracted to build and ready a ship to be a floating prison. How found and who were the people who crewed these death ships? Who captained them? How were they paid? Where and how did they get the slaves? How was this human cargo maintained on the"middle passage"? How many made it to land, slaves and sailors, and in what condition? What happened to those who made land? Who fought to keep the slave ships, and who fought to outlaw them? This author answers all these questions with an objectively drawn account. ( )

Not a cohesive continuous story, but hundreds of unrelated short descriptions of the lives of sailors, slaves, merchants, captains, and the ships involved in the slave trade. Well researched, but one quickly gets the idea from the multiple examples that this was a shameful era. While clearly there was a common theme throughout the book, not having a common character or continuous story line failed to hold my interest. ( )

Well-researched and detailed description of the Atlantic slave trade & human relationships in the slave ship. Perhaps it could have been organized a little differently, because it gets very repetitive in stating the author's main points. However, the individual stories of slave trades & life at sea for the captives, sailors, and captain were very informative and moving. ( )

A good overview of the slave trade in general combined with a detailed survey of life on board. Interesting to learn that the white crew members were treated nearly as horribly as the black slaves. A very powerful book.. ( )

Powerful topic; captures the horror. The only audio book in my collection. The audio edition is read by an actor with a wonderfully resonant voice, yet the reading lacks passion ... made it hard to stay engaged. ( )