The 1831 rebellion, Zoellner says, came at a pivotal moment in British history, forcing Parliament to weigh the costs and benefits of using slave labor to harvest sugar cane, and to view the slave trade through both an economic and humanitarian lens. They are largely responsible for their own abolition.”
These enslaved people have not been given enough credit. Thousands paid with their lives for liberty. “I hope this book highlights the underappreciated heroism of Sam Sharpe and the approximately 70,000 people in Jamaica who took an enormous risk. “It’s a tremendous honor, getting the award,” says Zoellner. Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire (Harvard University Press) chronicles the rebellion led by Samuel Sharpe, an enslaved Jamaican activist and Baptist deacon. Tom Zoellner, a visiting professor and 2012 graduate of the Masters of Liberal Studies Program (MALS), has won the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best nonfiction book of 2020.
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