Mimi Schroeder's Reviews > The Slave-Trader's Letter-Book: Charles Lamar, the Wanderer, and Other Tales of the African Slave Trade

The Slave-Trader's Letter-Book, by southern historian Jim Jordan, follows the scandalous but true actions of one Charles Lamar of Savannah as he wages his own personal war to keep slavery alive. It is a thoroughly researched and documented book, including 70 long-lost pre-Civil War letters...an amazing find that Jordan made in a dusty New Jersey attic, while working with the Georgia Historical Society.

The Slave-Trader's Letter-Book helps to explain how complicated the issue of slavery was in the South and what great lengths people went to justify and keep this "peculiar institution," as it was called. Like so many issues in politics, in the end, it all comes down to money. What did Deep Throat from the Watergate scandal say? "Follow the money." This book helps to dispel the myth that the South was fighting for anything but slavery. The South needed slaves to keep their agrarian economy going.

Jordan's book sheds some light on why this issue of slavery continues to vex us today. And why we need to pay attention to its ramifications on our society. We haven't dealt with it all yet. Fascinating history.