A review by wmartinie76
The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World by Greg Grandin

3.0

A fascinating look at the true story of the events that inspired Herman Melville's masterpiece novella "Benito Cereno". Off the coast of Chile in 1804, an American sealing ship stumbles across a Spanish slave ship. The American captain is initially fooled to think the ship just needs provisions only to discover that the slaves on board are acting servile but have really taken over the ship in insurrection. What commences next is a tragedy and a horror. While the book is chalk full of history and I learned a ton about the trans Atlantic slave trade, the ecological disaster of the sealing industry, maritime law and piracy, and more, the book never quite came together as a coherent and unified narrative. The author seems to want to point out the ironies of an age that describes itself as enlightened and for liberty, but he gets distracted from this focus by trying to cover so much historical minutiae. Informative but leaving you wanting something more. 2.9 Martinie glasses.