'… makes significant contribution to historiography in the field. … It is an important work that challenges researchers to reflect deeply on the validity and reliability of sources, particularly the dangers of over-reliance on archives that were created by those in authority or those who held a great deal of power in the past. The book brings fresh insight and make bold claims particularly about epistemological issues, and emphasizes clearly that the facts we gather at the archives are not necessarily the entire truth about the social, cultural, political, economic and historical issues they aspire to articulate. I recommend this book to everyone interested in the history of slavery. Graduate students and new researchers in the field of slavery in Africa and the diaspora will benefit enormously from the questions, issues, and guidelines covered in this book to unearth the voices of slaves and their communities.' Kwame Essien, African Studies Quarterly