Plantation Societies in the Era of European Expansion

Twelve reprinted articles capture some of the complexity and richness of the comparative study of slave plantation societies created by European and African migrants overseas. The essays trace the development of slave plantations from their Mediterranean antecedents to the transition to free labor in the Americas in the 19th century. The studies demonstrate that plantation societies were exploitative and inhumane, and describe comparisons in terms of varying degrees of cruelty, rather than relative benevolence. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR