The Atlantic Slave Trade

Herbert S. Klein is the author of 22 books and 155 articles in several languages on Latin America and comparative themes in social and economic history. Among these books are The Middle Passage: Comparative Studies in the Atlantic Slave Trade (1978) and four studies of slavery, the most recent of which are Slavery and the Economy of São Paulo, 1750–1850 (co-author, 2003), African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean (co-author, 2008), and Slavery in Brazil (co-author, 2009), as well as four books on Bolivian history, including A Concise History of Bolivia (2003). He has also published books on such diverse themes as The American Finances of the Spanish Empire, 1680–1809 (1998) and A Population History of the United States (2004).

• Introduction; 1. Slavery in Western development; 2. American labor demand; 3. Africa at the time of the Atlantic slave trade; 4. The European organization of the slave trade; 5. The African organization of the slave trade; 6. The middle passage; 7. Social and cultural impact of the slave trade on America; 8. The end of the slave trade; Appendix tables; Bibliographic essay.

“Klein is especially adept at using statistical studies to shed light on social and cultural history. . . . This is a concise and thoughtful synthesis of interdisciplinary history.” – Journal of Interdisciplinary History