The single best short survey in America, now updated. Includes a New Preface and Afterward In terms of accessibility and comprehensive coverage, Kolchin's American Slavery is a singularly important achievement. Now updated to address a decade of new scholarship, the book includes a new preface, afterword, and revised and expanded bibliographic essay. It remains the best book to introduce a subject of profound and lasting importance, one that lies at the center of American history. Peter Kolchin, the Henry Clay Reed Professor of History at the University of Delaware, is the author of numerous books, most recentlyA Sphinx on the American Land: The Nineteenth Century South in Comparative Perspective. In its accessibility and comprehensive coverage, Peter Kolchin'sAmerican Slaveryis a singularly important achievement. Now updated to address a decade of new scholarship, the book includes a new preface and afterword and a revised and expanded bibliographic essay. It remains the best introduction we have to a subject of profound and lasting importance, one that lies at the center of American history. "American Slaveryachieves the nearly impossiblesynthesizing the voluminous, contentious, and often conflicting scholarship about slavery in the United States from its inception in the seventeenth century to its demise two and a half centuries later . . . An unsurpassed survey of slavery for our times."Michael P. Johnson,The Journal of Southern History "The best short overview of slavery in North America."David Brion Davis, Yale University "American Slaveryachieves the nearly impossiblesynthesizing the voluminous, contentious, and often conflicting scholarship about slavery in the United States from its inception in the seventeenth century to its demise two and a half centuries later . . . An unsurpassed survey of slavery for our times."Michael P. Johnson,The Journal of Southern History "This is a brilliant and masterful synthesis of scholarship on the history of slavery in America. Kolchin not only pulls together all the relevant literature but also strikes out with his own perceptive and trenchant analyses."August Meier, Kent State University "A feast of deftly crafted interpretations of the many interrelated dimensions of a most complex institution that shaped and deeply scarred American society. Kolchin's masterful survey is by far the best I have seen. It will be hard to surpass."David Barry Gaspar, Duke University "Peter Kolchin'sAmerican Slaveryis the best history of the 'peculiar institution' that I have ever read. Paying equal attention to the slaves and the slaveholders, it is both comprehensive and fair-minded. A master of comparative history, Kolchin brilliantly shows how American slavery was similar to, and at the same time different from, forced labor in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Russia. His splendid bibliographical essay is an indispensable guide to the vast and complex literature on slavery."David Herbert Donald, Charles Warren Professor of American History Emeritus, Harvard University "A miraculous achievement . . . Kolchin's exploration of the slave experience displays a subtlety missing from earlier accounts. A concise, well-written, and sensibly argued survey of America's greatest shame."The New Yorker "Rich in analysis and insight . . . For the lay reader as for the historian,6American Slaveryis nothing less than essential."Jonathan Yardley,The Washington Post "Provides an informed modern history of slavery and its development, and suggests thoughtful, evenhanded conclusions on issues that have not been resolved definitively."&