The Dawning of the Apocalypse

The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, Settler Colonialism, and Capitalism in the Long Sixteenth Century

By: Gerald Horne

Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn

Acclaimed historian Gerald Horne troubles America's settler colonialism's "creation myth".

August 2019 saw numerous commemorations of the year 1619, when what was said to be the first arrival of enslaved Africans occurred in North America. Yet in the 1520s, the Spanish, from their imperial perch in Santo Domingo, had already brought enslaved Africans to what was to become South Carolina. The enslaved people here quickly defected to local Indigenous populations, and compelled their captors to flee. Deploying such illuminating research, The Dawning of the Apocalypse is a riveting revision of the "creation myth" of settler colonialism and how the United States was formed. Here, Gerald Horne argues forcefully that, in order to understand the arrival of colonists from the British Isles in the early 17th century, one must first understand the "long 16th century" - from 1492 until the arrival of settlers in Virginia in 1607.

In retelling the bloodthirsty story of the invasion of the Americas, Horne recounts how the fierce resistance by Africans and their Indigenous allies weakened Spain and enabled London to dispatch settlers to Virginia in 1607. These settlers laid the groundwork for the British Empire and its revolting spawn that became the United States of America.

©2020 Gerald Horne (P)2021 Tantor

amazingly researched

This is only the second work by Dr. Horne that I have read. That being said it's already clear to me that Horne is a scholar in the true sense. This work is dense with facts. there were times where there were so many facts that I forgot what the claim that the facts were supporting was. If you are looking for an easy going pop history book this isn't the book for you. This text is the type of text that will and probably already is being cited by other scholars/historians.

Excellent!

Loved every sentence! Supreme mastery of the historic archives! The author represents a class of scholarship not widely seen in the western hemisphere.

Must read

Extensive research and great presentation. Loved the global perspective. The concepts and thesis clearly articulated and well documented

World History 101, Especially if you’re African..,

This book deeply examines the pivotal role of Africans on American and world history.

A great companion to this book is Howard French’s “Born in Blackness”

Gerald Horne explains the long 16th century.

The book connects both hemispheres in the long 16th century, the most crucial one in the development of our modern capitalist world system. Gerald Horne is the greatest living American historian. The reader could not be better: the tone of his voice, the clarity of phrasing, the pace. He isn’t just reading the material, he speaks as if he’s teaching it to us.

Puts a lot into perspective

There is a lot of information to he absorbed and put into perspective. It will take several readings to do so.
The going back and forth with dates and events probably makes this a better read than listen.

Horrible narration

I found my mind drifting after listening to the first two minutes. They could have saved money by using a text-to-speech generator. I was really looking forward to listening to this book but this performance deemed it a waste of money.