Slaves in the Family

This book by Edward Ball took me a week or so to read. Though some parts are a little dry, the subject matter is very compelling. Growing up, Ball knew his family had at one time owned slaves, but the family did not encourage conversation on this topic. Needing to know more, he began researching and trying to find the descendants of the slaves his family had owned. Not all greeted him with open arms and some of his own family members were hostile. Through the process he found several people who are very likely related to him. The book discusses slavery on the rice plantations of South Carolina and larger issues of the slave trade, changing political climates, etc..., but the focus is on this man's family and the families they owned. The family stories he tells and the way he connects families through history - his own and those of others -draws the reader through a dark period of American history that still evokes strong emotions today.

Recommended - I am not aware of any other book quite like this. And for a fairly thorough portrait of what slaveholders and slaves thought about their lives, this provides a pretty good perspective that acknowledges bias, but tries very hard to overcome that bias. Does not turn a blind eye to outrages committed by whites (his own family included), but the message is one of family and of hope.