atsundarsingh 's review for:

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist

4.0

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This is a rather astounding feat. A book that encapsulates the history of American slavery, but is readable and in terms presentable to a public audience. I genuinely think that's an accomplishment. The second thesis, that torture drove so much of the 'efficiency' of American cotton, is proven by admitting the narrative and affective evidence of survivors and their descendants, a tangible step in the direction of the kind of scholarly ethics I want to employ. It's not that this book has no faults, it's that what it does well means it is more than worth a read despite them.