The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: A Devil, Two Rivers, and a Dream Book

I've often said that I don't know how to rate Non-Fiction books. I figured that I was interested in the topic, and have often marveled at the dearth of widely available information regarding the colonial era slave culture. Since I've written a SF novel set in the 1730's that involves slavery in the colonies I figured I should have some minimal exposure to the historicity of the era (before I release it to my half-dozen or so potential readers). Imagine my great joy when I stumbled on this little gem in a used bookstore.

Of course, I was frustrated that of the four main parts of this book, only one really focused on the Atlantic trade... an area of which I knew very little and found horrible and fascinating. The remaining portions were also informative and clearly written, although they bounced around a bit and were frustratingly non-specific about when particular moments happened, was it 1680? 1760? Who knows? I mean, the author did indicate that there were several periods, sometimes decades long, when attitudes towards slavery were softening, and freedoms were granted to slaves, to times when those freedoms were being taken away and more racists attitudes dominated.

Also, northern slaves, southern slaves, slaves in the Chesapeake area, or even the difference between a creole slave and one straight from africa were worlds apart in their treatment, their expectations, of their liberties.... this book tries to make a cohesive tale out of a pretty complicated matter that spanned centuries.

Still, good job all round keeping this concise, and in providing about the best bibliography I've seen in awhile.