In Miserable Slavery: Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica 1750-1786 Paperback – January 1, 1998

This is one of the most painful stories I've ever read. The cruelty of the British knows no bounds.

The story of Thomas Thistlewood (and the story told by him) is both fascinating and repellent. His diaries were written coolly and with little passion and show life on a slave plantation in all it's gory cruelty - from beatings, deliberate disfigurement, humiliation, sexual mistreatment, hurricanes, rebellion and near starvation. Vicious punishments were routine and common, death was just around the corner and misery, mistreatment and misfortune were the bread and butter of daily life. And yet misery is not the whole story. I was not too shocked by the depictions of cruelty - I already knew about the cruelty of slavery so to read about it came as no surprise - it was the other aspects of life that were unexpected and, a little confusing: Thistlewood was married to slave and clearly loved her (and she him), when times were hard he borrowed money from his slaves (some of whom appear to have had some means), he sold his old musket to one of his slaves (in defiance of the law) and, most shocking and surprising of all when he accuses a runaway slave of attempted murder the slave is found not guilty by the magistrate - something I would have found unimaginable. This book is a must for anyone with an interest in slavery in the Caribbean in the 18th century - but I urge you to grasp the deeper insights it gives into life at that time. My overwhelming feeling is that relationships and life itself at that time were not always as straightforward as we might think - with more layers and more complexity than we might first have imagined. Read it in tandem with Mastery, Tyranny and Desire.

Douglas Hall’s look at Thomas Thistlewood’s diary holds up incredibly well after more than three decades. Thistlewood was not a major planter by any means but his writings offer a fascinating, haunting, and chilling look at slavery in Jamaica in the second half of the 18th century. Hall was shrewd enough to let Thistlewood speak for himself--and indict and convict himself before history’s bench. This is not easy reading by any means as Thistlewood recorded his sexual conquests, including with women who could not say no, and the nightmarish punishments he inflicted on slaves. However, it is an important book, and readers wanting to understand more about Caribbean slavery should read this excellent book. Highest recommendation.

Martin Bashir said a stupid thing and paid the price. I thank me for making me aware of this book. It documents in a dispassionate way the cruelty of slavery. Thistlewood saw nothing wrong with his actions because at that time they were the norm. Bashir's point that slavery should not be trivialized by comparison to conditions today is well taken. Too bad he could not have made the point in a less explosive way.

Neutral feelings about book. Info heartbreaking

I went to high school in Jamaica with several Halls and wonder if Douglas was one of them????? I read this in hard copy years ago - and now have it on my KINDLE. What a dreadful thing was slavery in the cane fields of Jamaica -- what a dreadful thing it was anywhere.

This book is about slavery in western Jamaica and it was very interesting for me. Having studied history in high school and college was very surprised that this book was never a part of the curriculum. It was hard to digest some of the horrible acts that were meted out to the slaves. A good read if one has a strong constitution.

I do not think I'm a rate this book it's disgustingly bad events that happen atrocities of life it's a damn shame this was one celebrated. As a black man I'm appalled such s***. That a man like this could exist before my time but I got to meet my great great grandmother for she passed away at 98 and she still has a slave braces in Kentucky I still have some of the her things from the 1800s I look at her and I used to cry all the horrors she had to go through and be in a Slave. But I understand we must learn from history but it still doesn't consult the pain that I feel for her and the things she had to tolerate to live. The Museum of Natural, did not and do not want to sell so my cousin bought the whole block Harrisburg Kentucky where her memory will live on so we'll never forget the evils she had experience in her lifetime