The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery (Hardback)

'Taylor exposes the truth behind the longstanding narrative of Britain as a leading abolitionist force. In revealing how the British establishment resisted the emancipation of slaves, Taylor courageously confronts harmful historical revisionism in search of answers. Building on a thoroughly researched and potent historical account, The Interest makes a powerful case for reparations: once we reckon with the truth, we must finally atone for it' - Rt Hon David Lammy MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice

'In The Interest, Michael Taylor presents a fascinating history of Britain's approach to slavery. In doing so, he makes short work of the argument, long cherished by apologists for empire, that Britain's main role in the atrocities of the slave trade was to abolish it. In debunking this argument, Taylor writes with vivid clarity about one of history's greatest crimes, introducing us to people and places that have long since been consigned to the past and yet loom over the present - colonisers and the colonised, slave-trading tycoons and abolitionists, politicians and press. Meticulously researched and timely, The Interest is a critical piece of history and a devastating expose of a misleading colonial narrative' - Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire

'Taylor skillfully weaves careful research, astute judgements and elegant writing into a vital new interpretation of the efforts to prevent emancipation in the British Caribbean. In doing so, he shows just how the defence of slavery was pursued as a national interest before its abolition was claimed as a national achievement' - Dr Richard Huzzey, Durham University