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Editorial Review:
Writer and journalist Giles Milton specializes in the history of travel and exploration. His latest literary adventure, White Gold, is the story of Thomas Pellow, a Cornish cabin boy who was captured at sea by a group of fanatical Islamic slave traders—the Barbary corsairs, taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Salè in Morocco and sold to the highest bidder. Pellow’s purchaser happened to be the tyrannical sultan of Morroco, Moulay Ismail, a man committed to building a vast imperial pleasure palace of unsurpassable splendour built entirely by Christian slave labour. After enduring long periods of torture Pellow converted to Islam and became the personal slave of the sultan for over two decades—including a stint as a soldier in the sultan’s army—before finally making a dramatic escape and return to Cornwall. The account is supported by the unpublished letters and manuscripts of slaves and the various ambassadors sent to free them. This is an excellently written account of the history of the white slave trade. Pellow’s story is an extraordinary one but the real interest lies in the picture Milton builds of life in the slave pens and especially of daily life at the court of the spectacularly barbaric Moulay Ismail. --Larry Brown
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
White slaves....who would believe it. A very well written book which just goes to show that someone, somewhere at sometime are being made to do something they don't want to do. Yes, unfortunately no one is immune from abuse even today. These white slaves were taken sometimes during raids by pirates and brigands along the coasts of England and other European countries. They came in the night and took nearly whole villages as captives. The poor souls did not stand a chance and most of them never saw their homes or family's ever again. Most were... more info
The Moor's Revenge I love Giles Milton's books. If you haven't read Nathaniel's Nutmeg or Samurai William, then do so. I already knew a bit of this story - that Barbary corsairs raided the Cornish and Irish coasts in the seventeenth century for slaves, but I wasn't aware of the enormous scale of the Moroccan and Algerian white slave trade. Or that it continued up to the Congress of Vienna. And I had never heard of the dramatic incident that brought it to an end - a British fleet, massively armed thanks to Britain being... more info
Remind the world... Yet again written in a style that allows everyone to read it, Milton delivers. He has such an eye for the long forgotten but fascinating tale that it stands out as adventure and serious History with ease.
Long may such work continue as it allows you to have fun and make you feel like you have read a 'proper book' rather than a simple crowd pleaser.
Slavery was not all triangular trade Truth stranger than fiction told about a little known historical story. If you have ever wondered about pub signs with Moorish heads, here is the answer. For centuries, European sea coast communities and our sailors were at risk from the Barbary Corsairs, Muslims from North Africa after their expulsion from Spain. This threat continued until ended by British naval "diplomacy" less than two centuries ago. Here you learn of brital Moulay Ismail building a palace to be bigger than contemporary Versailles with... more info
