The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery [Hardcover]

A book of great importance and one that will likely become a classic. -New York Times Book Review

One ofThe New York Times' 100 Most Notable Books of 2025

ATime MagazineMust-Read Book of 2025

ANew YorkerEssential Read

From the Pulitzer Finalist andNew York Timesbestselling author ofCobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

Perfect for fans of David GrannsThe WagerandThe Wide, Wide Seaby Hampton Sides

In late October 1780, a slave ship set sail from the Netherlands, bound for Africas Windward and Gold Coasts, where it would take on its human cargo. TheZorg(a Dutch word meaning care) was one of thousands of such ships, but the harrowing events that ensued on its doomed journey were unique.

By the time its journey ends, theZorgwould become the first undeniable argument against slavery.

When a series of unpredictable weather events and navigational errors led to theZorgsailing off course and running low on supplies, the ship's captain threw more than a hundred slaves overboard in order to save the crew and the most valuable slaves. The ship's owners then claimed their loss on insurance, a first for slaves who had not been killed due to insurrection or died of natural causes.

The insurers refused to pay due to the higher than usual mortality rate of the slaves on board, leading to a trial which initially found in their favor, in which the Chief Justice compared the slaves to horses. Thanks to the outrage of one man present in court that day, a retrial was held. For the first time, concepts such as human rights and morality entered the discourse on slavery in a courtroom case that boiled down to a simple yet profound question: Were the Africans on board people or cargo?

What followed was a fascinating legal drama in Englands highest court that turned the blƒB