{"product_id":"sufferings-in-africa-9781590481080","title":"Sufferings in Africa","description":"\u003cp\u003eHe was used to adventure. He was used to the high seas. He was Captain James Riley  American seaman and independent businessman bound for Europe in 1815. He never made it! Instead the young sea captain and his crew were shipwrecked off the coast of Muslim-controlled Morocco. The sea salt was still wet in their hair when the battered survivors were pounced upon by local natives  ensnared  enchained  and marched off into the horrors of African slavery. Rileys narrative reads like fiction but is based on solid fact. Most of his men died. A few were separated and sold into the interior of the continent  never to be seen again. He was the first American to venture near the legendary Timbuctoo. Yet the conditions were so barbaric  the food so scanty  and the beatings so regular that Riley dropped from 240 down to 90 pounds! After many desperate ordeals  the American sailor and a handful of his men were ransomed by a sympathetic English merchant who had learned of their plight. Upon his return to the United States  Riley penned Sufferings in Africa  which went on to become Americas first best-seller  reportedly selling more than a million copies through various editions. Yet Sufferings in Africa is much more than just an adventure travel classic. In a time when the United States was grappling with the thorny issue of slavery within her own borders  Rileys startling book told a tale of Uncle Toms Cabin in reverse. Here was a story of Caucasian Americans under the whip and in the chains that held millions of Black Americans at the same time. Scholars are currently researching clues that this deservedly famous book was read by a young Abraham Lincoln  and thus helped seal his own heart against slavery. A classic story of endurance and bravery then  this important American book remains as fresh today as the day it was first released.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45951491735605,"sku":"ByrdShop_1590481089","price":238.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781590481080.jpg?v=1788109921","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/sufferings-in-africa-9781590481080","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}