The Economist ran an inflammatory review of the book in which the anonymous author wrote “Mr. Not all reviews have met the book with such enthusiasm. If the various elements of “The Half Has Never Been Told” are not entirely pulled together, its underlying argument is persuasive: Slavery was essential to American development and, indeed, to the violent construction of the capitalist world in which we live. But many Americans still see it as essentially a footnote, an exception to a dominant narrative of the expansion of liberty on this continent. It is hardly a secret that slavery is deeply embedded in our nation’s history. In the New York Times, Eric Foner writes: The book positions slavery at the forefront of our nation’s economic success and recognizes the crucial role played by African slaves in building a country in which it is still common for their ancestors to be treated as second-class citizens. The Half Has Never Been Told is a meticulously researched, elegantly crafted work of historical reporting that illustrates the fundamental role of slavery in the creation of the American state. Historian Edward Baptist will present his new book, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, at 2 p.m.
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