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Survivors: A History of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade
GUARDIAN: BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024
JANUARY’S BEST BOOKS
BOOK HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2024
'GRIPPING' THE TIMES
This is an immersive and revelatory history of the survivors of the Clotilda, the last ship of the Atlantic slave trade, whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways.
The Clotilda docked in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in July 1860 – more than half a century after the passage of a federal law banning the importation of captive Africans, and nine months before the beginning of the Civil War. The last of its survivors lived well into the twentieth century. They were the last witnesses to the final act of a terrible and significant period in world history.
In this epic work, Dr. Hannah Durkin tells the stories of the Clotilda’s 110 captives, drawing on her intensive archival, historical, and sociological research. Survivors follows their lives from their kidnappings in what is modern-day Nigeria through a terrifying 45-day journey across the Middle Passage; from the subsequent sale of the ship’s 103 surviving children and young people into slavery across Alabama to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement in Selma; from the foundation of an all-Black African Town (later Africatown) in Northern Mobile – an inspiration for writers of the Harlem Renaissance, including Zora Neale Hurston – to the foundation of the quilting community of Gee’s Bend – a Black artistic circle whose cultural influence remains enormous.
An astonishing, deeply compelling tapestry of history, biography and social commentary, Survivors is a tour de force that deepens our knowledge and understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and its far-reaching influence on life today.
JANUARY’S BEST BOOKS
BOOK HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2024
'GRIPPING' THE TIMES
This is an immersive and revelatory history of the survivors of the Clotilda, the last ship of the Atlantic slave trade, whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways.
The Clotilda docked in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in July 1860 – more than half a century after the passage of a federal law banning the importation of captive Africans, and nine months before the beginning of the Civil War. The last of its survivors lived well into the twentieth century. They were the last witnesses to the final act of a terrible and significant period in world history.
In this epic work, Dr. Hannah Durkin tells the stories of the Clotilda’s 110 captives, drawing on her intensive archival, historical, and sociological research. Survivors follows their lives from their kidnappings in what is modern-day Nigeria through a terrifying 45-day journey across the Middle Passage; from the subsequent sale of the ship’s 103 surviving children and young people into slavery across Alabama to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement in Selma; from the foundation of an all-Black African Town (later Africatown) in Northern Mobile – an inspiration for writers of the Harlem Renaissance, including Zora Neale Hurston – to the foundation of the quilting community of Gee’s Bend – a Black artistic circle whose cultural influence remains enormous.
An astonishing, deeply compelling tapestry of history, biography and social commentary, Survivors is a tour de force that deepens our knowledge and understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and its far-reaching influence on life today.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
433 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 18, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Did Not Finish
June 17, 2026it was a great history book which i would wholly recommend. had to return it to the library at the end of my loan & it’s been a bit too long for me to pick up a book i was 4/5ths done
February 3, 2025
Honestly when thinking of any criticisms of this book, or anything it could have done better, I couldn’t think of anything, it was well written, respectful, constantly humanising a difficultly inhumane subject, and makes me want to read 10 more books on this subject
November 13, 2025
More than half a century after the slave trade had supposedly been banned, Africans were still being enslaved in their home countries and transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The last slave ship to travel from West Africa to the USA was the Clotilda in 1860, which transported over 100 enslaved Yoruba children and young people. Prior to sailing, families were separated with many of those deemed too old or otherwise unfit to work being killed. After an horrendous journey across the Atlantic, during which some of the captives died, the slave ship finally and in great secrecy landed at Mobile, Alabama, where the Africans were sold to the highest bidders.
In her gut-wrenching account "Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade", historian Hannah Durkin describes their capture, enforced imprisonment, their journey across the Atlantic and what happened to them once they reached Alabama. The title "Survivors" is of key importance: the author is concerned with how, despite all the barriers they faced, so many of those 103 people managed to build lives for themselves, married, had children, worked hard, while all the time hoping that one day they would be able to return to their West African homeland.
She describes the abuse they were subjected to as slaves and how, after the American Civil War, they were notionally free - but without resources to make that freedom meaningful, at least at first. She follows their lives throughout Alabama, how they built their own homes, set up communities and defended themselves against racist attacks. She also looks at how the white former slave owners attempted to nip their freedom in the bud. How they used violence against the West Africans and attempted to restrict their freedoms. When eventually the USA allowed Black people to register to vote, the author describes how Alabama white leaders attempted to make it as difficult as possible to register, and when registered put barriers in the way of them voting. Despite this, many of the Clotilda Africans found ways to vote. Some communities even set up their own forces of law and order.
The author also looks at the role of these last captives and their children and grandchildren in the Civil Rights Movement.
Ultimately, despite all the horrors of their capture, transportation, slavery and later second-class status (all of which are described in detail by the author), this is the story of survival against the greatest odds imaginable. And of a proud peoples who retained much of their Yoruba culture, which they passed on to future generations.
In her gut-wrenching account "Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade", historian Hannah Durkin describes their capture, enforced imprisonment, their journey across the Atlantic and what happened to them once they reached Alabama. The title "Survivors" is of key importance: the author is concerned with how, despite all the barriers they faced, so many of those 103 people managed to build lives for themselves, married, had children, worked hard, while all the time hoping that one day they would be able to return to their West African homeland.
She describes the abuse they were subjected to as slaves and how, after the American Civil War, they were notionally free - but without resources to make that freedom meaningful, at least at first. She follows their lives throughout Alabama, how they built their own homes, set up communities and defended themselves against racist attacks. She also looks at how the white former slave owners attempted to nip their freedom in the bud. How they used violence against the West Africans and attempted to restrict their freedoms. When eventually the USA allowed Black people to register to vote, the author describes how Alabama white leaders attempted to make it as difficult as possible to register, and when registered put barriers in the way of them voting. Despite this, many of the Clotilda Africans found ways to vote. Some communities even set up their own forces of law and order.
The author also looks at the role of these last captives and their children and grandchildren in the Civil Rights Movement.
Ultimately, despite all the horrors of their capture, transportation, slavery and later second-class status (all of which are described in detail by the author), this is the story of survival against the greatest odds imaginable. And of a proud peoples who retained much of their Yoruba culture, which they passed on to future generations.
May 4, 2026
Impressive work, important stories, extremely well told.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews