Review: Roll, Jordan, roll
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsThis weighty book intends to ""tell the story of slave life as carefully and accurately as possible."" Less given over to theoretical and topical polemic than Genovese's earlier works on Southern slavery, it is by no means a catalogue. It amplifies Genovese's stress on the humanity slaves were able to preserve through de facto accommodations on the part of both slave and master, through the reciprocal play of ""elementary human reactions"" across class and color lines, and through the slaves' ""strong sense of stewardship"" for one another. This is a necessary transcendence of many other historians' dehumanizing view of both slaves and slaveholders, and to it Genovese brings his intellectual expansiveness and depth of feeling as he further documents key points featured in The World the Slaveholders Made (1969) and The Red and the Black (1972): the resourcefulness and egalitarianism of many house servants, the protective, responsible character of many black drivers, the prevalence of family stability and the nourishment Christianity afforded against degradation. Some critics will argue persuasively that Genovese has not done justice to southern slavery's deprivation, brutality and murder. As a matter of page-by-page arithmetic, Genovese certainly places more weight on young folks' play by the cabin door than on ""evidence of widespread dirt-eating."" The question -- raised very differently by Fogel and Engerman in Time on the Cross (KR, p. 220), whose econometric inferences crosshatch Genovese's view -- is one of method and concept in shaping the evidence. The subject will be pursued in debates, and anyone concerned with human development should read Genovese's book to knowledgeably participate.
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Jackie - GoodreadsThorough, maybe exhaustive history of slavery in the US south. Genovese argues slaves actively influenced the circumstances of their bondage. Written 40 years ago, the book needs an update to reflect more recent research. Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Erika - GoodreadsFlawed but incredibly useful to my research Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Edward Waverley - Goodreadshttp://unqualified-reservations.blogs... Modern Americans have enormous difficulty in grasping hierarchical social structures. We grew up steeped in "applied Christianity" pretty much the way the ... Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Kathy - GoodreadsI read this book for one of my graduate classes. I just loved it because it gave such a voice of survival and strength to the slave population. Genovese really gets into the world of the slave and brings dignity to their struggle to cope and survive in this crazy world they were thrown into. Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Clayton Brannon - GoodreadsOne of he best books you will ever read. Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - GoodreadsThorough analysis of the American slave culture. Genovese argues that slaves preserved African culture and combined it with American folkways to form a unique society. Can seem encyclopedic at times ...
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Jefferson - GoodreadsBrilliant. Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Heidi'sbooks - GoodreadsNonfiction: History. Winner of the Bancroft Prize. This is an excellent study with surprising information and lots of quotes from slave interviews and narratives. Copyright: 1976. 660 pages of text and another 160 pages of notes. Read full review
Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made
User Review - Elizabeth - GoodreadsI only read this because of my WEM group! I'm glad I did, even though it was a MEGO book. The author made the point that in order to understand the history of slavery, one must understand the concept ... Read full review
