3 Review(s)

William Wilberforce's name will forever be associated with the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Stephen Tomkins' book covers: early years as son of a wealthy merchant family in Hull; dissolute life in Cambridge; work as MP under Pitt; evangelical conversion; campaigner for public morality; leads parliamentary movement for the abolition of slavery; forms the "Clapham Sect'; anti-slave trade law; and, how he died 3 days after final reading of the Emancipation Bill. Through the book, the author includes primary documentation about the experience of slaves and the activities of slavers.