Harry Sidebottom’s latest novel, The Burning Road, is set in Sicily during a revolt of enslaved people against the Roman Empire. He wonders why there were so few such uprisings during the many centuries of Roman rule – and why we’ve only heard of the one led by Spartacus. “I am Spartacus!” At first in […]
Reassessing Francis Drake: what research for my novel revealed about his role in the slave trade
Author Nikki Marmery tells Historia about how researching her recently-published novel about the African woman known as Maria showed her the extent of Francis Drake’s involvement in the slave trade. When I started writing On Wilder Seas eight years ago, I wanted to counter the hero narrative surrounding Francis Drake, which persists despite his background […]
A respectable trade in brutality: Blood & Sugar
Laura Shepherd-Robinson tells Historia how a shameful period in Britain’s history spurred her to write Blood & Sugar.
Review: The Long Song
The Long Song, (BBC1, 9pm) is an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Man Booker shortlisted novel and tells the story of July, a slave growing up on a Jamaican plantation in the dying days of slavery. The first episode takes place against the backdrop of the ‘Baptist War’, or ‘Christmas Rebellion’, a slave revolt that increased […]
Writers’ Rights and Human Rights
Lydia Syson on Pacific slavery, and a writer’s responsibility to tell our hidden histories. “Sometimes how one frames a story determines whether or not we will see the fullness of a character.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, on Guardian webchat I didn’t set out to write a novel ‘about’ slavery. Or indeed to ‘dip my pen in […]