Daniel

by Richard Adams

Born into slavery on a U.S. plantation in 1759, Daniel has no experience of life beyond the boundaries of his masters' land until an event occurs which changes his life forever. Daniel is cast out of the plantation into a hostile world. He embarks on a journey which will span continents, test his courage and endurance to the limit and expose him to the horror of the slave trade.

Daniel's experience as a crew member of a slave ship is so profound that he becomes determiend to campaign for the abolition of the UK slave trade. In doing so, he adds his voice to those of the great reformers of the age, inclduing Thomas Clarkson and the great William Wilberforce.

Daniel's story is testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and how one man can make a difference. As we approach the anniversary of the abolition of slavery act, Daniel's story reminds us of the determination and fortitude of those who brought about that change and continue to inspire us.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

247 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

Adams was born in Newbury, Berkshire. From 1933 until 1938 he was educated at Bradfield College. In 1938 he went up to Worcester College, Oxford to read Modern History. On 3 September 1939 Neville Chamberlain announced that the United Kingdom was at war with Germany. In 1940 Adams joined the British Army, in which he served until 1946. He received a class B discharge enabling him to return to Worcester to continue his studies for a further two years (1946-48). He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and of Master of Arts in 1953.

He was a senior civil servant who worked as an Assistant Secretary for the Department of Agriculture, later part of the Department of the Environment, from 1948 to 1974. Since 1974, following publication of his second novel, Shardik, he has been a full-time author.

He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters, Juliet and Rosamund, and they insisted he publish it as a book. It took two years to write and was rejected by thirteen publishers. When Watership Down was finally published, it sold over a million copies in record time in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Watership Down has become a modern classic and won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1972. To date, Adams' best-known work has sold over 50 million copies world-wide, earning him more than all his other books put together.

As of 1982, he was President of the RSPCA.

He also contested the 1983 general election, standing as an Independent Conservative in the Spelthorne constituency on a platform of opposition to fox hunting.

Reviews

[mobydickens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two parts of this book are very gripping, and really had me. The last part (which was also by far the longest), read very dryly compared to the rest. We left the personal feeling behind and it became very historic. I had a harder time getting through the end.

"I am ultimate evil. Fall down before me. There is no cruelty greater than mine. I am the African slave trade... And those are our ships, fit to sink with gold...".

I can hardly believe the things people have done, and do, for greed.

I have a signed copy of this book. I find it very special - it's the last novel Adams published.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

With each page I felt the need to read on about Daniel.
Start to finish a wonderful book.

[Chris Hawks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book—growing up as an American slave, making the crossing to England, becoming a free man, and getting entangled in the Slave Trade—is absorbing, and I was pleased to see that Adams can still write well, well into his 80s. The second half, dealing with Daniel's efforts with the British cause of Abolition, though interesting and informative, reads more like a textbook—an impressive accomplishment, given that it's all related in first-person by the title character. Had the second half been written in a more personal style, with more detail given beyond "I met with Mr. Clarkson, who introduced me to Mr. Wilberforce. Then I sailed with Mr. Zachary to Sierra Leone" etc., the book would have been much more enjoyable, not to mention far longer than its current meager 250 pages.

Another thing to note is the bizarre structure of the book: Part I is 40 pages long, Part II another 20 or so; the rest of the book is Part III, and there are no chapters, and very few section breaks. I notice that his previous book (The Outlandish Knight—which I have recently acquired, but not yet read) has a very similar structure. I'm not entirely sure how this affects the reader on a psychological level, but it seems an odd choice—especially in Daniel, where Part III has an abundance of natural plot breaks that would lend themselves very easily to subdivision into further Parts.

Recommended for Adams completists, or people interested in the history of slavery—but that's about it.

[Baz · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I began this book I enjoyed it butt after around 2/3 way through it seemed to lose its spark & get bogged down. I thought the ending was rather predictable & a nit uninspiring.