{"product_id":"the-interest-how-the-british-establishment-resisted-the-abolition-of-slavery","title":"The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery","description":"\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING  A critical piece of history and a devastating expos Shashi Tharoor  author of Inglorious Empire  For two hundred years  the abolition of slavery in Britain has been a cause for self-congratulation - but no longer.  In 1807  Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire  but for the next quarter of a century  despite heroic and bloody rebellions  more than 700 000 people in the British colonies remained enslaved. And when a renewed abolitionist campaign was mounted  making slave ownership the defining political and moral issue of the day  emancipation was fiercely resisted by the powerful West India Interest. Supported by nearly every leading figure of the British establishment - including Canning  Peel and Gladstone  The Times and Spectator - the Interest ensured that slavery survived until 1833 and that when abolition came at last  compensation worth billions in todays money was given not to the enslaved but to the slaveholders  entrenching the power of their families to shape modern Britain to this day.  Drawing on major new research  this long-overdue and ground-breaking history provides a gripping narrative account of the tumultuous and often violent battle that divided and scarred the nation during these years of upheaval. The Interest reveals the lengths to which British leaders went to defend the indefensible in the name of profit  showing that the ultimate triumph of abolition came at a bitter cost and was one of the darkest and most dramatic episodes in British history.  A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020  Scintillating ... gripping ... compulsively readable Guardian  Fascinating ... riveting and first-rate The Times A thoroughly researched and potent historical account David Lammy MP\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44987023654965,"sku":"ByrdShop_1847925715","price":90.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781847925718_ec07c076-19e3-4926-9f24-30cf671d2004.jpg?v=1772673366","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-interest-how-the-british-establishment-resisted-the-abolition-of-slavery","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}