The Politics of Slave Trade Suppression in Britain and France, 1814-48 - by P Kielstra (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Britain's rarely-examined, nineteenth-century diplomatic efforts for abolition took contemporary pre-eminence over most questions and almost sparked war with France in 1845. Kielstra examines the issue in Anglo-French relations: how conflicting moral, economic, and nationalist pressures and lobby groups affected domestic politics and high diplomacy. To preserve peace and their positions, statesmen had little margin for error as they framed policies which attacked the trade and satisfied mutually incompatible domestic opinions, in a struggle which holds lessons for current efforts to include human rights concerns in foreign policy.

Review Quotes

'An impressive piece of traditional scholarship that elucidates many points in Anglo-French salve trade diplomacy. It should please and edify any expert on the questions of nineteenth-century slave trade repression and diplomatic history.' - Lawrence C. Jennings, University of Ottawa, American Historical Review

'This is a profound and subtle book, based on massive research.' - Muriel E. Chamberlain, History

About the Author

Paul Michael Kielstra is Director of Studies, 21st Century Trust.