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This book reveals a disturbing and long forgotten chapter of history. In 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and 51 comrades were captured at sea by the Barbary corsairs. Their captors--a network of Muslim slave traders--had declared war on Christendom. Thousands had been snatched from their homes in France, Spain, England and Italy and taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Sal ̌in Morocco. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco, who was constructing a palace of such grandeur that it would surpass every other building in the world, built entirely by Christian slave labor. Resourceful, resilient, and quick-thinking, Pellow was selected by the sultan for special treatment, and was one of the fortunate few who survived to tell his tale.--From publisher description.… (more)
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I had never heard of Moroccan ruler Sultan Moulay Ismail prior to this book but what a find! For his efforts in
As a chap who likes to think he knows his words, I was disconcerted to find a number of words in the opening pages that were completely new to me. However, once I had quietly referred to a dictionary and then pretended I knew the words all along, the page turning qualities of "White Gold" became apparent and I thoroughly enjoyed the book, although I'd caution that only those with strong stomachs should attempt any passages dealing with the Sultan's ingenious list of tortures.
This then, is the other side of the coin, the enslavers enslaved. But with incredible brutality, mindless bestiality, torture casual deaths, beheadings and driven by work so hard and unremitting that constant raiding and enslavement of more peoples from the European coast were required. Little intelligence here, none of the, sometimes self-interested and reluctant, care of their investment that modified the treatment of black slaves in the cruel plantations of the Americas. Beheadings by the Sultan himself were common, on his whim, whimsy and humour as he drove his millions of captured English, French, Portuguese and even American crews and villagers in constructing his huge city-of-palaces, Meknès-Tafilalet.
Having enjoyed Milton’s earlier work of scholarly research Nathaniel's Nutmeg it was no surprise to find such a detailed history of Pellow’s twenty three years of slavery. Towards the end of the book a thirst for revenge was satisfied in an ironic connection … it was a relative Sir Edward Pellew who, in 1816, destroyed the power of the Muslim slavers, releasing the slaves and bringing the ’white gold’ trade to an end.
One minor gripe: North African geography and Islamic art and architectural terms are used without recourse to a glossary or definitions. But this doesn't effect the overall flow of a terrific story.
I'd love to reflect more in depth but time doesn't permit. Suffice to say I loved it.