Discover how the campaign to end slavery divided Britain and was almost thwarted by some of the most powerful and famous figures of the era.
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING**
In 1807, Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire. But for the next 25 years more than 700,000 people remained enslaved, due to the immensely powerful pro-slavery group the ‘West India Interest’.
This ground-breaking history discloses the extent to which the ‘Interest’ were supported by nearly every figure of the British establishment – fighting, not to abolish slavery, but to maintain it for profit. Gripping and unflinching, The Interest is the long-overdue exposé of one of Britain’s darkest, most turbulent times.
A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR
‘Scintillating . . . compulsively readable’ Guardian
‘A magnificent book . . . riveting’ Evening Standard
‘A critical piece of history and a devastating exposé’ Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire
‘Thoroughly researched and potent’ David Lammy MP
‘Essential reading’ Simon Sebag Montefiore
