Tang,Dirk J. — Slavernij. Een geschiedenis.

Zutphen, Walburg Pers, [2013]. 237 pp. Col. & z./w. ills. Orig. hardcover (pictorial boards). 4to. An accessible Dutch-language history book that seeks to explain how slavery emerged, how it functioned, and how people in the past managed to morally justify it. It chronicles the history of slavery and the international slave trade from antiquity to its eventual abolition in the nineteenth century. The book covers more than just the trans-Atlantic slave trade; it demonstrates how slavery has existed in many cultures and societies worldwide since ancient times. A key central question addressed in the book is how the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands-a nation that had fiercely fought for its own freedom against Spanish rule-came to participate in the international slave trade on such a large scale. Tang examines how merchants, ordinary citizens, housewives, and religious leaders (ministers) soothed their consciences and rationalized their actions, even while attending church on Sundays. The book also describes how ideas and opinions regarding slavery shifted over the centuries, ultimately leading to the system's abolition in the nineteenth century. It paints a vivid picture of what slavery meant in concrete terms for the people who were stripped of their freedom and everything of value.