Review by Choice Review
Smith (Montana State Univ.; coeditor, Class Matters: Early North America and the Atlantic World, CH, Feb'09, 46-3432; editor, Down and Out in Early America, 2004) has crafted an excellent work of historical detection. Using primary sources, he contributes to the tradition of medical-colonial history initiated by Alfred Crosby in The Columbian Exchange (CH, Mar'73). The author offers few heroes, creating a realistic narrative about the ill-fated attempt of English colonists who in 1792 traveled aboard the Hankey to establish a colony based on paid rather than slave labor in Bolama, West Africa. Plagued by inept leadership, these mostly secular abolitionists brought smallpox, met warlike natives, and encountered yellow fever. Sailing to the New World when their lease expired, they carried the mosquito vector for yellow fever, initiating an epidemic in 1793 that changed the course of the Haitian revolution. Few passengers survived to return to England. While telling a fascinating story, Smith provides insight into the cultures and ethnocentricities of natives and colonists, and the workings of the slave trade. Essential for early American and Haitian revolution scholars and medical historians. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General, undergraduate, and graduate libraries. J. P. Davis Hopkinsville Community College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
