Working the Diaspora: The Impact of African Labor on the Anglo-American World, 1650-1850 (Culture, Labor, History)

This book marshals an incredible breadth of research to document how West African expertise profoundly shaped agricultural and manufacturing practices across the Americas from colonization through the early 1800s. By shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic and examining a variety of industries, Knight definitively demonstrates how slaves were critical sources of industrial know-how that built an economic powerhouse. Importantly, he also shows how these enslaved people leverage that expertise to resist and even win freedom for themselves. Highly recommend