ABSTRACT
David Brion Davis’s prize-winning text The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823 is an essential book for anyone working on the history of slavery, antislavery, and abolitionism. It is also a key text for anyone interested in American or British history. As Davis began his academic career, the American civil rights movement—the struggle of black Americans and their allies to end discrimination—was becoming increasingly prominent. In The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture, Davis had explored Western ideas about slavery, looking back over two thousand years of history. He built on this in The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, looking at the ideas that led to the revolutions in America, France, and Haiti. Anti-colonial struggles were being waged in Africa and Asia, while Europe was experiencing substantial post-war immigration, with newcomers arriving from former European colonies.
