American Slaves and African Masters: Algiers and the Western Sahara, 1776-1820

American Slaves and African Masters: Algiers and the Western Sahara, 1776-1820. By Christine E. Sears. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Pp. 240. £59.50.

Christine E. Sears's study of the enslavement ordeal of Americans in Ottoman Algiers and the Western Sahara during the peak of corsairing activities in the Mediterranean is a wellconceived, well-written, and welcome contribution to the field of comparative slavery. After an elaborate introduction and a chapter on the context of Mediterranean and Ottoman slavery and the Barbary pirates, Sears divides the book into two main parts. In the introductory section, Sears meticulously outlines the particularities of enslavement practices shaped by urban and rural contexts in Ottoman Algiers and the Western Sahara. Using diaries, letters, and published narratives authored by enslaved Americans, the author critically interprets, analyzes, and contextually grounds their experiences and demonstrates how their ordeals reflected the diverse system of enslavement in Ottoman Algeria and the Western Sahara.

Part 1 of...