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 enlarge | Author: Giles Milton
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $3.35
You Save: $11.65 (78%)
New (7) Used (11) from $3.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 414737
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0312425295
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.3620964
EAN: 9780312425296
ASIN: 0312425295
Publication Date: June 13, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Slavery was not all triangular trade October 20, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Truth stranger than fiction told about a little known historical story. If you have ever wondered about pub signs with Moorish heads, here is the answer. For centuries, European sea coast communities and our sailors were at risk from the Barbary Corsairs, Muslims from North Africa after their expulsion from Spain. This threat continued until ended by British naval "diplomacy" less than two centuries ago. Here you learn of brital Moulay Ismail building a palace to be bigger than contemporary Versailles with 100% white Christian slave labour. If anyone apostacised they received better treatment but lost their hope of ransom by any Christian nation. How Thomas Pellow endured this from captured cabin boy until he escaped after many years is a truly incredible story. Even more amazing is than a descendant should be the naval officer to end this barbarism. Read and learn.
An exciting, educational book July 9, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a very exciting story that is based primarily on the recorded tale of a British individual who was captured from a British ship by Muslim pirates. The individual, Thomas Pellow, was 11 years old and serving as a cabin boy in the early 18th century on a ship captained by his uncle. The ship was captured during a trading voyage and the entire crew (of around 8) was captured, along with the crews from 2 other ships (about 50 captives in total). The British sailors were taken as slaves and received terrible treatment for years, or until they died (as most did). The story of their captivity and abuse is very powerful.
Giles Milton, the writer, uses the story of Pellow as a proxy for the stories of the estimated 1 million european slaves taken by Muslim pirates during that age. While focusing on Pellow, Milton still ventures out to tell additional information about the other slaves during that time, and about the forces that ultimated decided the issue of slavery in that part of the world, at least as far as European slaves went.
Pellow spent 23 years as a slave before he finally escaped and made his way back to England. According to the text, Milton found enough supporting evidence regarding Pellow's story that he believes it to be substantially true. Since I don't have all of his sources, which themselves are based on Pellow's account, I don't buy in 100% to his stories, which I suspect were "pumped up" to support book sales almost 300 years ago. Still even if the story is exaggerated in some detail, we do have enough information to reasonably believe that countless individuals had experiences that were the same or similar to many of his experiences in the book. Also, the background information throughout the book is a great historical primer for those of us who have not studied this segment of history.
I found it frustrating that many of the issues they dealt with 300 years ago are similar to the issues we deal with today from Muslim terrorists. In the book, we would see the King of England send representatives to meet with the Sultan to try to negotiate freedom for the British slaves. Time and time again the Sultan would agree to free the slaves for a price, but then refuse to do so once he had what he wanted. It wasn't until the Western world grew technologically and was able to blow the Muslim ports to pieces that the Muslims finally stopped the practice of capturing European slaves (Whoever said violence never solved anything?). In fairness to the Muslims, it also took violence to get Christian Southerners in the USA to stop the practice of slavery.
Overall, this is a great book that is fascinating reading while being very educational at the same time.
What a Surprise! May 27, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The story of white slavery has gone virtually untold.........it is an amazing and well written story that is to be found in White Gold......and definitely worth reading.
 white European slaves of Islam April 16, 2007
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book presents a narrative of white Europeans who were enslaved by Islamists, focusing on the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The scholarship is respectable with the author refusing to accept statements unless they are confirmed by Arabic manuscripts from the period. The narrative is as gripping as an action/adventure novel.
The emphasis is mainly restricted to English men, women and children, although the author does occasionally mention Danes, Norwegians, Spanish and Italians and others who were enslaved, as well as American colonials. Later, Americans in the newly formed United States of America were captured. The U. S. government immediately sent warships and marines to the shores of Tripoli; and after that, the Islamists left the Americans alone.
Too bad the United States today has forgotten that early lesson. Now, of course, the Islamists are not using outmoded tactics like pirate ships. They are using immigration, both legal and illegal. For the facts on the rebirth of Islamic imperialism, see While America Sleeps: How Islam, Immigration and Indoctrination Are Destroying America From Within and "While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within."
Historical Account March 10, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Having heard of this book from friends, I checked it out before purchase as there are nowadays many examples of history being rewritten for what might be termed "politially correct" reasons.
Indeed this book may soon be unavailable due to those reasons. It could be construed that this account of slavery might cause offense to Muslims, though none of the Muslims I know personally would be so offended. But one of the motivations for me to buy this book was the "review" by the (Islamic?) correspondent of the Washington Post, which you kindly reproduce. Viewing this distainful dismissal was for me most revealing and may (I hope) encourage others to make this purchase also.
They will be rewarded by an account of a period of history which is being quietly swept under the carpet and out of sight.
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