Sweet Water and Bitter: The Ships That Stopped the Slave Trade

by Siân Rees

This is a vivid, action-packed and moving story of the Royal Naval squadron that patrolled the West African coast to stop the slave ships, after Britain passed the Abolition Act.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction

340 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Siân Rees is a British author and historian. She has a degree in history from University of Oxford. She lives in Brighton and is an RLF Fellow at the University of Sussex. She is particularly interested in the social and maritime history of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Reviews

[Lona Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was re-reading this book while my plane was stuck on the tarmac for 90 minutes. Oh! We had to wait! They only gave us a pack of peanuts and a bottle of water! One of the reasons we need to read history is to put our own lives in perspective. Another reason is to appreciate the complexity of the past, instead of knowing only the bare outline.
In Sweet Water & Bitter, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade is placed in its historical, military and economic context, but Siân Rees is extremely skillful at showing the human side of the story. On every page, there is another amazing/shocking/heartbreaking/inspiring vignette. You meet the sailors and missionaries who fought against the slave trade, very often at the cost of their lives. The scale of the suffering is--well, impossible to grasp, but it is best expressed by the voices that are represented--parliamentarians, naval officers, ordinary seamen, slave traders, and the Africans themselves. The details and nuance are extremely impressive. Rees' explanatory prose is also excellent, clear and even-handed. My paperback copy is bristling with little post-it notes.
There is an extensive bibliography.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, how it operated, what nations were involved in it, and what it took to stop it.

[Jindřich Zapletal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, 19th century had its own version of our global warming fight--the fight to abolish international slave trade. With persistent doubts about viability of the venture, untold expense, enormous fortunes destroyed, multiple dead ends and morally dubious repercussions, complaints about shooting self in the foot in the context of international competition, time to time making the problem worse, forcing the concept down the throats of all actors using methods noble or ignoble, condemning whole countries to long-term economic depression by bribing their leaders to abandon the trade, turning the whole noble enterprise into an international legal mirror labyrinth, with final success never ever in sight. And it was the former greatest transgressor party that took the initiative too, bringing no little amount of international skepticism about its real purpose.

The book is well-researched and contains several really interesting and exotic highlights, with useful links to primary sources. I do not think it has a direct competitor. In total though, it is pretty endless and as monothematic as a West African coast patrol.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, actually.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rees unravels an amazingly complex story, played out over 62 years, from the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 till its fulfilment, ‘the Atlantic slave trade has ended’, in 1869 – though she makes the point that slavery in many other forms continues to this day.

The broad statements of the Prologue make much more sense when it is read again, after reading the book. It is the history of the Preventive Squadron of the British Navy, with its own mixed motives, frustrated by dissimulation, ineffective treaties, legal niceties, deviousness, deceit and much more that enabled slavers to continue one way and another until the American Civil War finally put an end to the transatlantic trade. The twists and turns, fumbling successes and abject failures over those 60 years make a fascinating, frustrating story.

[penelopewanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't take this with me on holiday, so will resume reading when I return.
Back from vacation, have picked this up again (April 14).

Although this was quite a slow read for me, with a long break as I didn't take it on Easter holiday with me, I found this a very interesting read. The events recounted here were not at all known to me. This book certainly added a great deal of detail to the overall picture that has been forming over the years now that this spiral on the theme of slavery has been running. It's been a fascinating and instructive journey indeed! I note that the author is British (or attended Oxford, at anyrate) - I couldn't help wondering if the story would read differently if it were written from another national point of view.

[Trawets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, it took over 60 years for the West African slave trade to be eradicated. Sian Rees's book chronicles the work of the Preventative Squadron, the Royal Naval vessels who patrolled, the coast the West Africa, stopping slave ships and freeing their unfortunate cargoes. Britain was alone for much of the 60 years, most European countries, along with America, Cuba and Brazil and notably the African chiefs opposed and attempted to thwart their humanitarian efforts.
17,000 Britons lost their lives in the campaign, but Britain almost alone shouldered the humanitarian burden and this is an episode which we can remember with pride.
Sian Rees's book is neither an easy nor quick read, but one that was worth the effort.

[Pat Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had vaguely heard of the British naval squadron's work off the African coast. Rees introduced me to the British attempt to stop the slave trade at the source - Africa. This is a story of diplomacy, duplicity, fear, revenge and some success. Good read for an American who knows nothing about this side of the slave trade.

[jen]

I tried. It couldn't make it past the third chapter. I wanted some of the historical characters fleshed out so I had someone to hang on to. An important story but the writing droned too much for me. I might try again another time.