Sweet Water and Bitter

By Siân Rees,

Book cover of Sweet Water and Bitter: The Ships That Stopped the Slave Trade

Book description

Sweet Water and Bitter is the extraordinary sequel to Britain's abolition of the slave trade in 1807. The last legal British slave ship left Africa that year, but other countries and illegal slavers continued to trade. When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, British diplomats negotiated anti-slave-trade treaties and a…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Sweet Water and Bitter as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

While doing research on the British campaign to end the slave trade, I read many books, but no book transported me to the decks of the slave ships and to the rugged coast of Africa like Sweet Water and Bitter. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade is placed in its historical, military, and economic context, but Siân Rees also shows the human side of the story. On every page, there is another amazing/shocking/heartbreaking/inspiring vignette. You meet the sailors and missionaries who fought to smother the slave trade, often at the cost of their lives. The hopes and hardships of life in…

Want books like Sweet Water and Bitter?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Sweet Water and Bitter.

Browse books like Sweet Water and Bitter

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in slaves, liberty, and naval history?

Slaves 106 books
Liberty 61 books
Naval History 27 books