Timothy D. Walker, "Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad" (U Massachusetts Press, 2021)

New Books in African American Studies

More than 70 percent of the 103 pre-Emancipation slave narratives acknowledged using waterways as their method for escaping enslavement. However, much of the scholarship on the Underground Railroad has centered on land routes. Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad (University of Massachusetts Press, 2021) convincing asserts the role of maritime escapes as part of the Underground Railroad during the antebellum era. The ten essays in this volume bring together scholars at various stages of their careers, examines how enslaved people traveled by sea to seek freedom. This critical volume offers a new component to escape routes, recasting Underground Railroad scholarship

Readers interested in the book may use the promo code MAS022, which is good for 30 percent off the book’s cover price and free shipping when purchased through the University of Massachusetts Press website.

N'Kosi Oates is a Ph.D. candidate in Africana Studies at Brown University. Find him on Twitter at NKosiOates.

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