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The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Odyssey Paperback – Illustrated, February 28, 2009

by Randy J. Sparks (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 102 ratings
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In 1767, two “princes” of a ruling family in the port of Old Calabar, on the slave coast of Africa, were ambushed and captured by English slavers. The princes, Little Ephraim Robin John and Ancona Robin Robin John, were themselves slave traders who were betrayed by African competitors―and so began their own extraordinary odyssey of enslavement. Their story, written in their own hand, survives as a rare firsthand account of the Atlantic slave experience.

Randy J. Sparks made the remarkable discovery of the princes’ correspondence and has managed to reconstruct their adventures from it. They were transported from the coast of Africa to Dominica, where they were sold to a French physician. By employing their considerable language and interpersonal skills, they cleverly negotiated several escapes that took them from the Caribbean to Virginia, and to England, but always ended in their being enslaved again. Finally, in England, they sued for, and remarkably won, their freedom. Eventually, they found their way back to Old Calabar and, evidence suggests, resumed their business of slave trading.

The Two Princes of Calabar offers a rare glimpse into the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and slave trade from an African perspective. It brings us into the trading communities along the coast of Africa and follows the regular movement of goods, people, and ideas across and around the Atlantic. It is an extraordinary tale of slaves’ relentless quest for freedom and their important role in the creation of the modern Atlantic World.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    208 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 28, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    7.75 x 0.5 x 4.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0674032055
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674032057
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“In his brief, informative and wide-ranging account, Mr. Sparks uses the two princes’ capture and release as a prism through which to view the religion, commerce, literature and roguery of the time, on both sides of the ocean. It helps to be reminded that nothing in the past is quite so simple―so black and white―as moralists might like it to be.”―Stuart Ferguson, Wall Street Journal

“The Two Princes of Calabar is an excellent brief study of late 18th-century West African slaving culture, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, British Methodism and the efforts of religious British to abolish the slave trade.”―Robert Waters, The Times-Picayune

“This deserves to be read by specialists and by general students of Atlantic history, not only because it underlines the brutality of slavery but also because it offers fascinating glimpses into the fluidity of identities in Atlantic history and into how, consciously or otherwise, Africans helped to promote British abolitionism.”―David Richardson, Times Higher Education Supplement

“While researching a topic in early Methodism, Sparks discovered letters by former slaves to Charles Wesley. The writers were brothers from an elite family in a slave-trading community on the Bight of Biafra. During a 1767 conflict with another slave-trading clan―an altercation abetted by English slave merchants―the two were seized by a slave-ship captain and launched on a seven-year struggle to get home… Seamlessly weaving great chunks of eighteenth-century documentation into the narrative, Sparks makes the brothers’ saga an absorbing true-life adventure.”―Ray Olson, Booklist

“Randy Sparks’s The Two Princes of Calabar is a great story. Great not only in that it is an extraordinary adventure that captures the drama, pathos, anguish, and ultimately the tragedy of the African slave trade, but also great in that it brings together all of the elements of the meeting of Africans, Europeans, and the Americans in the Atlantic.”―Ira Berlin, author of Generations of Captivity

“Randy Sparks’s Two Princes adds significantly to our growing knowledge of the complexity of human experiences of the Atlantic era, particularly those of people originating in Africa. This engagingly written study adds Ephraim Robin John and Ancona Robin John to the bare two dozen or so known individuals who managed, in spite of the silencing anonymity of enslavement in Africa, to leave records, in their own voices, of the often surprising stories of their lives.”―Joseph Miller, T. Cary Johnson, Jr., Professor of History, University of Virginia

“Randy Sparks has done a great service to Atlantic History. The Two Princes of Calabar effectively integrates African and Atlantic history into an engaging and enlightening narrative. He succeeds in making the life of the Niger Delta trading states accessible to the general reader and brings their deep and remarkably sophisticated relationships with Europe to light with great style.”―John Thornton, author of Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World

“This is a remarkable account of remarkable events. Of the millions of Africans ensnared by Atlantic slavery, a mere handful returned home. Randy Sparks’s vivid exposition is about two African princes, slaves and slave traders, who found their way back to Africa. It is a tumultuous story but given persuasive coherence by Sparks’s forensic researches and arresting prose. What he has produced is a finely-crafted miniature: a glimpse, via the lives of two men, into the broader contours of the enslaved Atlantic. The result is a literary treat which raises as many questions as it answers, and which provokes, instructs―and entertains.”―James Walvin, Professor of History, University of York

About the Author

Randy J. Sparks is Professor of History at Tulane University.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press; Illustrated edition (February 28, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674032055
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674032057
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.75 x 0.5 x 4.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 102 ratings

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Randy J. Sparks

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
102 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

j.Biggs
5.0 out of 5 stars ... read this book because my middle school daughter's teacher recommended for her
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2016
Verified Purchase
I read this book because my middle school daughter's teacher recommended for her. It is a great book, full of history from a first hand account. For anyone searching and wanting to know more about the African Slave trade, read this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Misc Buyer
4.0 out of 5 stars A slavers voyage in slavery.
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is thought provoking. It goes into detail not only on the story of the two princes, but also on the laws and civilization in that time period. The subjects of the book “Efik” and “Ancona” were not meant to be slaves but had become slaves when a coup was put in motion and laws were broken. Due to their abilities to communicate effectively and their acquaintances in the slave trade they ultimately survived.
The story crosses from Africa to the American colonies, England, and eventually back to Calabar in Africa. These men suffered a similar experience as those they had put in the same situation. The irony, even though they were slave traders, when they returned after everything they had endured, they stuck with that trade even after finding religion. Meanwhile the Calabar massacre of 1776 which led to their enslavement was becoming more widespread and seemingly became a key implement in abolishing slavery in England to include the use of their ships outside of England.
Overall, this book is well written and well researched. However, it does not read as a dry research paper. It is very informative, not only in the sense of the story’s focus, but informative as to how business was done in that era. For the length of the book, you would be hard pressed to get much more factual information or context on the two “Princes”.
One person found this helpful
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N. C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2018
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Amazing book to ready. Everyone should have this book.
One person found this helpful
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Deirdre H Dziadkowiec
5.0 out of 5 stars Epic
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2013
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What a wonderful story, Im sure there are other stories to tell such as this moving tale of two brothers!
One person found this helpful
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TED KAZ
3.0 out of 5 stars This book sounded a lot more interesting than it was ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book sounded a lot more interesting than it was. I found the storyline a bit thin as I read and was hoping for more concrete details in relation to the theme.
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Manvir
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2016
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almost untouched
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars [Insert Title Here]
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
Required reading for a graduate course on Atlantic World History. Sparks' tale follows two "Atlantic Creoles" from Calabar (SSE present day Nigeria) on their unexpected journey through the Atlantic. Prior knowledge of West African culture is not needed as Sparks will provide the prerequisite background. Overall good, quick read for anyone, not just students (though this is does have scholarly backing).
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Jon Carter
4.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad story
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2014
Verified Purchase
I purchased this book for a US History class (required for course) It describes a different point of view to the the slave trade over three and a half centuries. Not bad, overall.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

HRH Honey Lace
5.0 out of 5 stars So now I can read about another ancestor
Reviewed in Canada on September 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
Sadly this was a time when all men were not equals I wonder what my 5th great grandfather would say about all his family of today. We are a rainbow of people. My 5th Great Grandfather was Captain Ambrose Lace.
One person found this helpful
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Goodchoice
4.0 out of 5 stars Great history indeed
Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
It is interesting and quite illuminated.
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