This groundbreaking historical expose unearths the lost stories of
enslaved persons and their descendants who journeyed into freedom after
the Emancipation Proclamation and then back into the shadow of
involuntary servitude shortly thereafter in "The Age of Neoslavery."
By turns moving, sobering, and shocking, this unprecedented Pulitzer
Prize-winning account reveals the stories of those who fought
unsuccessfully against the re-emergence of human labor trafficking, the
companies that profited most from neoslavery, and the insidious legacy
of racism that reverberates today.
Following the Emancipation Proclamation, convicts--mostly black
men--were "leased" through forced labor camps operated by state and
federal governments. Using a vast record of original documents and
personal narratives, Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most
shameful chapters in American history.
"An astonishing book. . . . It will challenge and change your
understanding of what we were as Americans--and of what we are."
--Chicago Tribune