Perhaps the main virtue of Popovic's work is that it remains the only significant scholarly study of its subject, the 9th-century revolt of Zanj slaves who worked in the marshlands of southern Iraq. Although the event played a key role in everything from the fall of the Abbasid caliphate to changes in trade routes throughout the Indian Ocean, historians have shied away from studying it because the only real source we have is the chronicle of al-Tabari.

Popovic has collected the fragments of al-Tabari which touch upon the revolt, and sought to provide some analysis. However, it is sometimes difficult to see the basis of his conclusions, and there are many issues which he does not explore, such as a possible ethnic connection between the African troops of the caliph who joined the rebels and the Zanj themselves. He also tends not to touch the broader impact of the revolt mentioned above. The religious ideology of the movement also needs further scrutiny.

Nonetheless, for a general reader interested in this little corner of history, Popovic can provide the details in a readily accessible form.

We are often informed that slaves who arrived in the Middle East were generally treated better than slaves in the West; however, Popovic's work sheds light on how harsh treatment in a situation similar to that in which slaves were often placed in the west led to a grand revolt not matched since Spartacus!

Popovic, relying on al-Tabiri and other writers, informs us that the Zanj were a people of eastern Africa. They were often taken in razzias from Muslim states such as Zanzibar (see Ibn Battuta in Black Africa). Many of these Zanj were taken to the Mesopotamian region of Iraq and put to work on giant agricultural "plantations" and in mines.

The Zanj were involved in a number of insurrections, all of which were failures - until they joined the uprising formed by Ali b. Muhammad, a non-Zanj, non-black Muslim. Although the Zanj made up a large part of the revolutionary forces, few Zanj (unlike the black leaders of Maroon colonies in Jamaica, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and etc.) had any real power in the new revolutionary state. Still, their continuing adherence to the state (which, as Popovic tells us, included black soldiers who defected from the Caliph's and local leaders' forces) tells us that they preferred society under the non-black Ali's dictatorship to slavery in the fields and mines. On the other hand, as with many western maroon colonies, the Zanj and others had no problem taking goods and slaves from (and making slaves of
the local population).

The nascent civilization continued to grow for many years, until the Caliph decided he had the time and resources to make a concerted effort to destroy Ali b. Muhammad's young kingdom. Using a combination of force and amnesty, the official government quickly began driving Ali's forces back into the swampy areas south of Basra and eventually drove the remnants of the rebellion to the rebel capitol. Within a few years, the "Zanj" Revolt was over and Ali bin Muhammad was dead.

This historical, social and anthropological study of the Zanj Revolt stands with Price's MAROON SOCIETIES as an important study of the development of government, customs, and social status in societies generally - as well as a study of a rather interesting aspect of the black diaspora caused by slavery.

If you will read 'The Slave Narratives' you will get to read interviews with over 2500 former slaves who were still living in the mid-thirties, and also their views and feelings about life in the old South. Why limit yourself to just a handpicked 6 stories when there are 2500 out there? Hmmm?

Six Women's Slave Narritives is an absolute must for any historian or seeker of truth. You will cry and shivers will run down your spine as you feel the past rush through you with every turn of the page. This is a compilation of 19th century Black women writers in different situations. Interestingly, the typeface changes slightly throughout the book, imitating the possibility of time travel. Some of the women are educated, and some are simply expressive. The editors notes help clarify confusing issues and questions. If you are studying history, women, black history or slavery, you will be engrossed by this heartrenching and soul-moving collection of personal exposure. Be ready to cry, wince, and change your outlook on life.

Eric Lincoln's text is a critical evaluation of racism in America, how began and what it is today. Lincoln takes us into his world; the world of the African American.

The journey begins in the early part of this century; in Alabama, and focuses us in the tiny town of Athens; not a bad place to grow-up, unless you're Black. Lincoln's writing illuminates the ugly prejudice behavior of whites towards (and, as Lincoln notes, the prejudice of Blacks towards "white trash") Blacks that was predominated the South during the first half of this century. He reports his sobering findings that America was and still is split into two societies:white and Black, separate and unequal. After driving this point home, Eric takes you through the changes, notes improvements, but proclaims that America remains caught in racism and class conflict.

In an unusual twist regarding blacks and Jews, C. Eric Lincoln does a admirable job showing a symbiotic relationship between the two maligned groups. To Eric the Jews were distant cousins in the fight against racism; cousins with deep financial pockets, legal expertise and limited participation that undergirded the Civil Rights Crusades. He sees the relationship as two minorities trying to gain parity in an intolerant closed-minded society.

Lincoln's call for blacks to reaffirm, (or even regain), their identity as Africans displaced in America strikes me as a rewarming of Malcom X's ideology. Though Lincoln stays short of Malcom X's call for a return to Africa, I feel that Lincoln has failed to realize that blacks in America are American and a vital part of it pluralism.

C. Eric Lincoln ends his text in a diatribe of statements, that he fails to back up with either facts or incidences of the massive injustice he reports. For example, he states that the "national focus is on the wanton elimination of the African America Male from meaningful participation in the common ventures of American Life".

The national focus? Lincoln goes on a tirade against the incarceration of "black men" at a "unconscionable rate" as if they have not broken laws, caused injury or done the crime. He makes no comment on the victims of the lawless; black or white; he just waves the flag of injustice and racism. The destructiveness of self-interest that he writes about is also found in the arena of black-interest.

Lincoln insists that America remembers that the African minority have had their lives disrupted, their national integrity as African impugned, their culture degraded, their politics corrupted and their freedoms commandeered, taken away or sold off by the white establishment. He goes on to say that too little is being asked, said or done to allay the journey from the "harsh, inflexible conventions" of the past. He states that America, especially white America, is "still in the business of niger making." He then closes with a "No-Fault Reconciliation", whereby we must get on with the task of building the dream, the dream that makes us all American. We must prepare for a new world, a new society that allows us to trust and support each other. We are all in need of God and each other. Lincoln reaches the end of his manuscript and says, "Hey, I am a Professor at Duke University and I've got to end this book on a hopeful text, not the ranting, radical diatribe that I started with, so he comes up with his "no-fault reconciliation".

Lincoln has done extremely well pointing out both the history and problems of racism in America. His insight into the difficulties then and now for a Black person to cross "the color line" is extremely useful.

However, he fails to come up with any solutions to how we can work collectively to bring change into our system and culture. He lacks answers for the pressing problems.

To say the answer is no-fault reconciliation leaves me flat. I also found him critical and short changing the black and white church. For Lincoln religion, (IE Christianity for the most part), was more of the problem that the solution. He felt that the Black church and Black preacher kept the system in place and tended to support the oppression (pg67). I wondered where he would have put the Black minister in his triad of "Good, Bad, and Smart Nigers".

I felt that the few paragraphs that he gave to Christianity were inadequate, considering the role that the Black and White church played in abolishing slavery and in the civil rights movement.

Norris W. Cuney was my great-grandfather. I've only read part of this book, but just want to add that it's also useful because it's one of few published works about NWC. There is a good chapter on him in GALVESTON: A HISTORY OF THE ISLAND, by Gary Cartwright.

This book is useless as a piece of scholarship--it is overly laudtory and has little analysis, but it has extended quotes from Norris Wright Cuney. Anyone doing research on Texas history or the interplay between race and class in the 19th century or the growth of Jim Crow should read this book. Cuney is such an interesting figure because he was, like Booker T. Washington, one of the few black southerners who could move fairly wasily between the black and white communities. Moreover, he had extremely conservative poltical economic views which often put him at odds with his own constituents.

As a lover and avid reader of history I was VERY disappointed in this book. I found Ms. Clintons opinions and interpretations of the south and southern plantation era one sided, selective, and laced with her own prejudices. Yes, it was a horrible, horrible time for the blacks, whites and our country. Slavery will always be Americas greatest shame, a flaw that most of us struggle to understand and rectify in our human frailty each day, but if Ms. Clinton is to be believed, there was but a handful of humane, caring "white" people residing in the south during this time! Which is Not true! If Ms. Clinton considers herself a true historian (which I do not) and writer of history I feel it is her duty to tell All sides honestly, with equal amounts of pros and cons, and without her own bias slants. To my fellow history buffs I can not reccoment this book and I can honestly say that I will never read another of Ms. Clintons books in the future.

Tara Revisited is an only marginally convincing portrait of the "real" southern woman. Clinton successfully debunks the myth of the Old South, yet fails to put in its place a convincing and thorough discussion of the real lives of these women.

Clinton, in refuting the popular myth of the "southern belle," does put up her own model for the southern lady. But this model depends little on how these women actually lived and what they really though; rather she consistently insists on painting women in an overly noble and (still) idealized way.

If you are looking for a good history and examination of women during the American Civil War, try "Mothers of Invention" by Drew Gilpin Faust. It is immensely more satisfying than Clinton's depiction.

Southerners carry a chip on their shoulder when it comes to the Lost Cause, so any book which attempts to set the record straight is an exercise in masochism, certain to be fired upon by those weened on Plantation Mythology. Clinton investigates the development of the "Tara Mystique", that belief that plantation life consisted of happy slaves working for the love of the masters and mistresses. She both dispels this legend and defends the character of Southern womanhood during the Civil War and afterwards. Those who want their ancestors to be demigods will hate this book. Those who want to demonize Southern forebears will find it too light. Those who are willing to confront history as a record made by human beings will enjoy this book and ask for more.