New Book
The fearless benjamin lay: the quaker dwarf who became the first revolutionary abolitionist
This book chronicles the transatlantic life and times of a man who in 1738 became one of the first ever to demand a total, unconditional emancipation of all enslaved people worldwide. Prophet, philosopher, and vegetarian, Lay affirmed the equality of all living things as he rethought the ethical foundations of human life. See all books »
Film
Ghosts of Amistad:
In the footsteps of the rebels
Winner of the American Historical Association’s John E. O'Connor Prize in 2015 as the best historical documentary of the year
This film, directed by Tony Buba and produced by Marcus Rediker, chronicles a trip to Sierra Leone in May 2013 to interview village elders about local memory of the Amistad rebellion (1839), to search for the long-lost ruins of the slave trading factory Lomboko, and to recover a lost history from below in the struggle against slavery.
News & Events
November 2016: Lecture at the Louvre in Paris on Théodore Géricault’s magnificent painting, “The Raft of the Medusa." The audio of the lecture is available here and a story, with video, by France-TV, here.
August 9, 2017: Here is the English language version of an interview I did with Virginie Bloch-Lainé for the French newspaper Libération, about the French edition of my book Outlaws of the Atlantic. And here is the original interview in French.
August 13, 2017: August 13, 2017: Here is my op-ed, “You’ll Never Be as Radical as This 18th-Century Quaker Dwarf,” published in the New York Times about Benjamin Lay and his courageous opposition to slavery and racism more than two centuries ago.
