I recently read a book titled ‘A respectable trade’ by Phillipa Gregory. When I picked it up I had no idea that the respectable ade they spoke of was the slave trade. The book was set around 1780 and is a story of an educated man trapped into slavery and his journey from Africa to England and a Woman of England’s ‘high society.’ Essentially she winds up responsible for educating him along with a small group of slaves and finds they aren’t the worthless creatures she was led to believe, but people like herself with thoughts, feelings and opinions.

I had no idea that England played such a huge role in slavery and was astounded by the disgusting conditions they kept slaves in. For instance the book talks of sharks following the slaving ships as the ‘wastage’ (the term they use for slaves that died on the voyage) was so high it was a constant source of food. The estimates are that between 15 – 20million Africans were taken from Africa during the slaving years and that of those approximately 30% never reached land again but perished during the voyage. Of those that did make it across the sea, a further 70% died within the first three years of working the sugar plantations.e they spoke of was the slave trade. The book was set around 1780 and is a story of an educated man trapped into slavery and his journey from Africa to England and a Woman of England’s ‘high society.’ Essentially she winds up responsible for educating him along with a small group of slaves and finds they aren’t the worthless creatures she was led to believe, but people like herself with thoughts, feelings and opinions.

Can you imagine the enormity of the industry??? The great thing about the book is that it tells it from both sides, high society and also the slave perspective. It was a fantasitc read and really made me appreciate the standard of living we have, not only here, but what we expect the rest of the world to adhere to. I’m constantly grateful for the time and place we live, much more so after reading this book!