When colonial slavery was abolished in 1833 the British government paid 20 million to slave-owners as compensation: the enslaved received nothing. Drawing on the records of the Commissioners of Slave Compensation, which represent a complete census of slave-ownership, this book, first published in 2009, provides a comprehensive analysis of the extent and importance of absentee slave-ownership and its impact on British society. Moving away from the historiographical tradition of isolated case studies, it reveals the extent of slave-ownership among metropolitan elites, and identifies concentrations of both rentier and mercantile slave-holders, tracing their influence in local and national politics, in business and in institutions such as the Church. In analysing this permeation of British society by slave-owners and their success in securing compensation from the state, the book challenges conventional narratives of abolitionist Britain and provides a fresh perspective of British society and politics on the eve of the Victorian era.

Slavery and the slavery business have cast a long shadow over British history. In 1833, abolition was heralded as evidence of Britain's claim to be the modern global power. Yet much is still unknown about the significance of the slavery business and emancipation in the formation of modern imperial Britain. This book engages with current work exploring the importance of slavery and slave-ownership in the re-making of the British imperial world after abolition in 1833. The contributors to this collection, drawn from Britain, the Caribbean and Mauritius, include some of the most distinguished writers in the field: Clare Anderson, Robin Blackburn, Heather Cateau, Mary Chamberlain, Chris Evans, Pat Hudson, Richard Huzzey, Zoe Laidlaw, Alison Light, Anita Rupprecht, Verene A. Shepherd, Andrea Stuart and Vijaya Teelock. The impact of slavery and slave-ownership is once again becoming a major area of historical and contemporary concern: this book makes a vital contribution to the subject. -- .

This book re-examines the relationship between Britain and colonial slavery in a crucial period in the birth of modern Britain. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of British slave-owners and mortgagees who received compensation from the state for the end of slavery, and tracing their trajectories in British life, the volume explores the commercial, political, cultural, social, intellectual, physical and imperial legacies of slave-ownership. It transcends conventional divisions in history-writing to provide an integrated account of one powerful way in which Empire came home to Victorian Britain, and to re-assess narratives of West Indian 'decline'. It will be of value to scholars not only of British economic and social history, but also of the histories of the Atlantic world, of the Caribbean and of slavery, as well as to those concerned with the evolution of ideas of race and difference and with the relationship between past and present.

When colonial slavery was abolished in 1833 the British government paid GBP20 million to slave-owners as compensation: the enslaved received nothing. Drawing on the records of the Commissioners of Slave Compensation, which represent a complete census of slave-ownership, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the extent and importance of absentee slave-ownership and its impact on British society. Moving away from the historiographical tradition of isolated case studies, it reveals the extent of slave-ownership among metropolitan elites, and identifies concentrations of both rentier and mercantile slave-holders, tracing their influence in local and national politics, in business and in institutions such as the Church. In analysing this permeation of British society by slave-owners and their success in securing compensation from the state, the book challenges conventional narratives of abolitionist Britain and provides a fresh perspective of British society and politics on the eve of the Victorian era.

This book re-examines the relationship between Britain and colonial slavery in a crucial period in the birth of modern Britain. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of British slave-owners and mortgagees who received compensation from the state for the end of slavery, and tracing their trajectories in British life, the volume explores the commercial, political, cultural, social, intellectual, physical and imperial legacies of slave-ownership. It transcends conventional divisions in history-writing to provide an integrated account of one powerful way in which Empire came home to Victorian Britain, and to reassess narratives of West Indian 'decline'. It will be of value to scholars not only of British economic and social history, but also of the histories of the Atlantic world, of the Caribbean and of slavery, as well as to those concerned with the evolution of ideas of race and difference and with the relationship between past and present.

To the majority of humans and fellow warlocks alike, Magan Corvina is exceptionally ravishing. She has flawless skin, hair that blows even in the absence of wind, and a crimson red dress that commands total attention. She is perfect in the eyes of Justin Admior, an ordinary human from Sau Ce Ordecia, a harmony city populated by both humans and warlocks. Just one look at her was all it took to captivate him, but the feeling definitely wasn't mutual, because Corvina must be married to a wizard in order to fully abuse the Bond of Matrimony, a spell that combines energies to allow lesser warlocks to possibly hold their own against any sorcerer no matter their rank. Justin is aware of this, and begins to study magic spells so that Corvina will notice him. In one final attempt to impress her, Justin unintentionally steps into a portal that leads to a foreign magical world that's different from planet earth in almost every way possible. The Magic Kingdom is full of potent threats, most of them being plague creatures that have vicious claws and fangs, however the really serious threat comes from Queen Zeetress, ruler of Southern Arcanus, who is also the reason behind Corvina's desperation to marry a wizard and take vengeance for her murdered sister. Now stuck in an unfamiliar world, Justin's only hope is to learn advanced magic spells, defeat blood thirsty monsters, and befriend wise and powerful warlocks that can aid him. In a world where seven suns shine at the same time, where small children have the power to guide lost souls to the afterlife, and chronos itself can be thrown off balance with a simple incantation, there's no definite way of knowing whether Justin, Corvina, and her husband, Merlin Ambrosias will make it back to earth safely.