Roll, Jordan, Roll The World the Slaves Made [Paperback]

This landmark history of slavery in the South—a winner of the Bancroft Prize—challenged conventional views of slaves by illuminating the many forms of resistance to dehumanization that developed in slave society.

Rather than emphasizing the cruelty and degradation of slavery, historian Eugene Genovese investigates the ways that slaves forced their owners to acknowledge their humanity through culture, music, and religion. Not merely passive victims, the slaves in this account actively engaged with the paternalism of slaveholding culture in ways that supported their self-respect and aspirations for freedom.Roll, Jordan, Rollcovers a vast range of subjects, from slave weddings and funerals, to the language, food, clothing, and labor of slaves, and places particular emphasis on religion as both a major battleground for psychological control and a paradoxical source of spiritual strength. Displaying keen insight into the minds of both slaves and slaveholders,Roll, Jordan, Rollis a testament to the power of the human spirit under conditions of extreme oppression.

Book One: God is Not Mocked
Part 1. Of the Willing and the Obedient
Part 2. ...and the Children Brought Up

Book Two: The Rock and the Church
Part 1. Of the God of the Living
Part 2. ...and Every Man According as His Work Shall Be

Book Three: The Valley of the Shadow
Part 1. Of the Sons of Jacob
Part 2. ...and the Coat of Many Colors

Book Four: Whom God Hath Hedged In The most profound, learned, and detailed analysis of slavery to appear since World War II. It covers an incredible range of topics and offers fresh insights on  nearly every page. . . . Genovese's great gift is his ability to penetrate the minds of both slaves and masters, revealing not only how they viewed themselves and each other, but also how their contradictory perceptions interacted. --The New York Times Book Review

Without modern peer as an histolã+