“This brilliantly conceptualised book reveals the carceral origins of imperial humanitarianism. Its meticulous interpretation of the processing, exploitation, and experience of ‘Liberated Africans’ in sites across the British Empire underpins a new understanding of the coloniality of refuge and asylum today.”—Clare Anderson, University of Leicester“This stunning book constitutes a ground-breaking addition to the literature on slavery and abolition.”—Manuel Barcia, author of The Yellow Demon of Fever“In this erudite, original, and well-written account of the imperial origins of humanitarian governance Maeve Ryan demonstrates that the past is never past but continues into the present.”—Michael Barnett, author of Eyewitness to a Genocide
