Americans have always defined themselves in terms of their freedoms--of speech, of religion, of political dissent. How we interpret our history of slavery--the ultimate denial of these freedoms--deeply affects how we understand the very fabric of our democracy.
This extraordinary collection of essays by some of America's top historians focuses on how African Americans resisted slavery and how they responded when finally free. Ira Berlin sets the stage by stressing the relationship between how we understand slavery and how we discuss race today. The remaining essays offer a richly textured examination of all aspects of slavery in America. John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger recount actual cases of runaway slaves, their motivations for escape and the strains this widespread phenomenon put on white slave-owners. Scott Hancock explores how free black Northerners created a proud African American identity out of the oral history of slavery in the south. Edward L. Ayers, William G. Thomas III, and Anne Sarah Rubin draw upon their remarkable Valley of the Shadow website to describe the wartime experiences of African Americans living on both borders of the Mason-Dixon line. Noah Andre Trudeau turns our attention to the war itself, examining the military experience of the only all-black division in the Army of the Potomac. And Eric Foner gives us a new look at how black leaders performed during the Reconstruction, revealing that they were far more successful than is commonly acknowledged--indeed, they represented, for a time, the fulfillment of the American ideal that all people could aspire to political office.
Wide-ranging, authoritative, and filled with invaluable historicalinsight, Slavery, Resistance, Freedom brings a host of powerful voices to America's evolving conversation about race.

Megwyn Jones is one of the most hated women in Britain. She used to run a home for troubled children in an isolated part of Snowdonia called The Hope. For a long time there were rumours about what was happening there, and then one day it was realised that children had gone missing. Ever since, Megwyn's kept her peace. Is she Innocent? Is she guilty? Where are the bodies? The years have been long and hard on Megwyn and on the families of the children. But now Megwyn's dying and she's agreed to go back to The Hope, to reveal the horrible secret she's kept all these years. Cast: Burn Gorman (Owen Harper), Tom Price (Andy Davison), Siân Phillips (Megwyn Jones), Nia Roberts (Sally), Ian Saynor (Colbourne), Kerry Joy Stewart (Ginny), Laura Dalgleish (Reporter). Other parts played by members of the cast. NOTE: TORCHWOOD CONTAINS ADULT MATERIAL AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNGER LISTENERS.

In the far future of the Earth Empire, Torchwood is forgotten. So it's a surprise when Zachary Cross Flane of the Torchwood Archive finds himself summoned to the opening of the late Empress's Library. Her son believes that the conspiracy which deposed his mother is still active, and that the key to it is hidden somewhere in the library. But does Zachary want to find it? CAST: Shaun Parkes (Zachary Cross Flane), Chandrika Chevli (The Empress), Mateo Oxley (Emperor Merdiven), Wilf Scolding (Courtier), Amanda Shodeko (Chloe). Other parts played by members of the cast

Americans have always defined themselves in terms of their freedoms--of speech, of religion, of political dissent. How we interpret our history of slavery--the ultimate denial of these freedoms--deeply affects how we understand the very fabric of our democracy.
This extraordinary collection of essays by some of America's top historians focuses on how African Americans resisted slavery and how they responded when finally free. Ira Berlin sets the stage by stressing the relationship between how we understand slavery and how we discuss race today. The remaining essays offer a richly textured examination of all aspects of slavery in America. John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger recount actual cases of runaway slaves, their motivations for escape and the strains this widespread phenomenon put on white slave-owners. Scott Hancock explores how free black Northerners created a proud African American identity out of the oral history of slavery in the south. Edward L. Ayers, William G. Thomas III, and Anne Sarah Rubin draw upon their remarkable Valley of the Shadow website to describe the wartime experiences of African Americans living on both borders of the Mason-Dixon line. Noah Andre Trudeau turns our attention to the war itself, examining the military experience of the only all-black division in the Army of the Potomac. And Eric Foner gives us a new look at how black leaders performed during the Reconstruction, revealing that they were far more successful than is commonly acknowledged--indeed, they represented, for a time, the fulfillment of the American ideal that all people could aspire to political office.
Wide-ranging, authoritative, and filled with invaluable historical insight, Slavery, Resistance, Freedom brings a host of powerful voices to America's evolving conversation about race.