Voices of the Enslaved

“Through meticulously recorded and preserved legal testimony derived from criminal trials in 18th-century New Orleans, White details how slaves perceived their own cultural reality as well as that of the ruling masters. The stories provided offer insight into their morals, societal values, and views on labor, violence, and familial bonds. The author intersperses her narrative with records in French and includes multiple paintings, samples of documented testimony, maps, and architectural sketches that help bring these figures and their plight to life. . . . Graduate students and professionals will find it uniquely enlightening.”—CHOICE

“Voices of the Enslaved is a remarkable achievement of historical interpretation from fragmentary documents, even sources as comparably rich as court transcripts, and is an impressive contribution to scholarship on the African diaspora in the French Atlantic.”—H-Net Reviews

“A compelling and insightful chronicle of the lives of individual enslaved men and women in French colonial Louisiana.”—Journal of Southern History

“Any effort to review this work can only fall short because of the sheer beauty of White’s written word and the profound depictions that she pens.”—Journal of Early American History

“This meticulously researched and lyrically written study offers a road map through the archives and a reconceptualization of the autobiography of the enslaved in the Atlantic world. Sophie White’s interpretive strategies wrest a vibrant and complex history of slavery from testimony, court proceedings, and the voices of the enslaved themselves. A genre-busting book.” — Jennifer L. Morgan, New York University

“With subtle analysis and empathetic storytelling, Voices of the Enslaved uncovers a stunning level of detail about how enslaved people experienced and resisted their bondage, how they managed profound loss and imagined possible futures. In their own words, and with vivid flashes of personality, the enslaved reveal their inner worlds like never before. A remarkable achievement.” — Brett Rushforth, University of Oregon

“White brings readers into the world slaves made for themselves, illuminating their attachments as well as their conflicts. With its remarkable anthropological sensitivity, her book is an insightful tribute to those who fought to make their voices heard.” — Cécile Vidal, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris

“In a marvelous act of recovery, translation, and storytelling, Sophie White resurrects the sounds and sights of enslavement on the edge of the French Empire, revealing a place we might have thought we would never see. An original and startling book.” — David W. Blight, Yale University