<p>In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, David Robertson illuminates the shadowy figure who planned a slave rebellion so daring that, if successful, it might have changed the face of the antebellum South. This is the story of a man who, like Nat Turner, Marcus Garvey, and Malcolm X, is a complex yet seminal hero in the history of African American emancipation.<p>Denmark Vesey was a charasmatic ex-slave--literate, professional, and relatively well-off--who had purchased his own freedom with the winnings from a lottery. Inspired by the success of the revolutionary black republic in Haiti, he persuaded some nine thousand slaves to join him in a revolt. On a June evening in 1822, having gathered guns, and daggers, they were to converge on Charleston, South Carolina, take the city's arsenal, murder the populace, burn the city, and escape by ship to Haiti or Africa. When the uprising was betrayed, Vesey and seventy-seven of his followers were executed, the matter hushed by Charleston's elite for fear of further rebellion. Compelling, informative, and often disturbing, this book is essential to a fuller understanding of the struggle against slavery.</p> <h3>KLIATT</h3> <p>Denmark Vesey was a Barbados-born carpenter living peacefully in Charleston, South Carolina in the early years of the 19th century. An ex-slave who had managed to purchase his freedom thanks to a lucky lottery ticket, Vesey became a respected freeman who diligently pursued his trade throughout his adult years, bought a home, and achieved a level of prosperity. Unbeknown to Charleston's white society, however, he also spent those years meticulously planning and organizing an uprising of some 9,000 slaves, which would have destroyed the city. Word of the plot leaked out in the early summer of 1822, and Vesey and 77 of his followers were swiftly rounded up and hanged. Charleston's white residents were traumatized to learn of the massive slaughter that the quiet woodworker had intended for them. The whole affair was grimly suppressed—but never forgotten—by Charlestonians, and the better-known insurrections by Nat Turner and John Brown soon came to occupy the attention of the American public and, subsequently, its historians. Vesey's abortive uprising remained an obscure footnote to Southern history until the rise of current scholarship in black history and Pan-Africanism. Three new books within the past couple of years have now gone far to fill out the record. This account is particularly well suited to readers who know little about the Vesey affair and its ramifications. An experienced biographer, Robertson has produced a detailed study that brings the story down to the present day. He is careful to fit the story into the context of the times and, more importantly, into the framework of modern Pan-African thought. His balanced and flowing narrative will be enjoyed by adult layreaders and advanced YAs. At the same time, a biographical appendix, annotated footnotes and a good index will make the book useful to university students and to researchers in general. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, Random House/Vintage, 202p, illus, notes, bibliog, index, 21cm, 98-31825, $13.00. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Raymond L. Puffer; Ph.D., Historian, Edwards Air Force Base, CA January 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 1)</p>
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