Sweet Water and Bitter: The Ships That Stopped the Slave Trade. Sin Rees - Hardcover

SIĀN REES grew up around boats and shipyards in Cornwall. She read modern history at Oxford, has traveled widely, and is the author of the bestsellers The Floating Brothel and The Ship Thieves. She lives in Brighton, England.

“What more can you ask of written history? Oxford scholar Sian Rees’ Sweet Water and Bitter is a well-researched narrative of an epic saga little known here—Britain’s attempt to abolish all transatlantic slave trade in the 1800s—interwoven with smashing high-seas adventure worthy of Patrick O’Brian.”—Newcity Lit

“A study of the Royal Navy Preventive Squadron, a small fleet of ships that captured slave ships along the African coast and emancipated their captives in the era after Britain abolished slavery.”—Chronicle of Higher Education

“Rees presents a well-researched account of Britain’s attempt to stem the Atlantic slave trade by creating the Preventive Squadron to enforce the 1807 Abolition Act. . . . Her use of case histories and personal narratives make this an especially engrossing read. Readers not well acquainted with African geography and nautical nomenclature may find the myriad details overwhelming, but Rees does an overall solid job of crafting a readable but dense narrative for serious readers. . . . Rees presents a little-known but historically significant chapter in nautical and slavery history, an important addition to 19th-century studies. Recommended to students and informed lay readers in British history and African geography.” —Library Journal

"The good news is that trafficking in persons today is probably less profitable than slavery was in the 19th century or drugs are in the 21st. . . . We can reasonably hope to see modern-day slavery dramatically diminished in our lifetime, but we need the sobriety that Sweet Water and Bitter provides."—Books and Culture