Capitalism and Antislavery : British Mobilization in Comparative Perspective

Presenting a major reassessment of the roots, nature, and significance of Britain's successful struggle against slavery, this book illuminates a novel turn in the history of antislavery. For the first time, the most effective agents in the abolition process were non-slave masses. This not only set Britain off from ancient Rome, medieval western Europe, and early modern Russia, but, in scale and duration, it distinguished Britain from its 19th-century continental European counterparts as well.