The Interest

How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery

By: Michael Taylor

Narrated by: James MacCallum

Brought to you by Penguin.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING

A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

A riveting narrative history that shows for the first time how the campaign to end slavery divided Britain, convulsed its politics and was almost thwarted by some of the most powerful and famous figures of the era.

In 1807, Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire. But for the next 25 years more than 700,000 people remained enslaved, due to the immensely powerful pro-slavery group the 'West India Interest'.

This ground-breaking history discloses the extent to which the 'Interest' were supported by nearly every figure of the British establishment - fighting, not to abolish slavery, but to maintain it for profit. Gripping and unflinching, The Interest is the long-overdue exposé of one of Britain's darkest, most turbulent times.

'A critical piece of history and a devastating exposé' Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire

'Thoroughly researched and potent' David Lammy MP

'Essential reading' Simon Sebag Montefiore

©2020 Michael Taylor (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Impressively researched and engagingly written (Dominic Sandbrook)

A magnificent book ... riveting (Ian Thomson)

Powerful ... engrossing ... Taylor's potent book shows why slavery took root as an essential part of British national life (Martin Chilton)

Michael Taylor's well-researched The Interest is ... about abolition, but it focuses on the grandees who fought against it, mostly for reasons of greed ... those seeking a catalogue of the country's old iniquities need look no further (Simon Heffer)

Taylor superbly brings to life all the intrigue, machinations, heavy-lifting, rigmarole and chance of the tortuous path to abolition (H Kumarasingham)

Offer[s] [a] fresh perspective on the story of reform and challenge[s] many of the prevailing, at times self-congratulatory, narratives of abolition ... Taylor assesses how far earnings from slavery permeated British society. He names the banks, universities and industries that all benefited directly from the trade ... lessons for today (Kofi Adjepong-Boateng)