In resistance : studies in African, Caribbean, and Afro-American history /

In 12 historically illuminating essays, this collection explores the theme of resistance that has symbolized the behavior of oppressed people to colonialism and racism in Africa, the Caribbean, and the American South. Although each study has integrity in its own right, taken together the articles affirm the fundamental interplay between structured oppression and exploitation, on the one hand, and refusal and resistance on the other. The volume grew out of a conference heralding the 40th anniversary of Herbert Aptheker's groundbreaking study, American Negro Slave Revolts (1943). Most of the pieces were delivered at the conference, but several were written to complement its main thesis. The essays relate the dominant theme of resistance to its rural base, to class and gender factors, to geographical circumstances, and to strategies and ideology. The concluding chapter is a bibliographical analysis of Aptheker's writings in Afro-American history. This collection constitutes scholarship and thoughtfulness of the highest caliber and is essential reading for students of comparative history, particularly for those interested in the historical struggle of subordinate groups to overcome their oppressed place.-J. Boskin, Boston University