In Search of the Promised Land

Bol Partner

The matriarch of a remarkable African-American family, Sally Thomas went from being a slave on a tobacco plantation, to a virtually free slave, who ran her own business and purchased one of her sons out of bondage. In Search of the Promised Land offers a vivid portrait of the extended Thomas-Rapier family and of the life of slaves before the Civil War. Based on family letters as well as an autobiography by one of Thomas's sons, this remarkable piece of detective work follows a singular group as they walk the boundary between slave and free, travelling across the country in search of a promised land , where African-Americans would be treated with respect. Their record of these journeys provides a vivid picture of antebellum America, stretching from New Orleans to St. Louis, from the Overland Trail to the California Gold Rush, and from Civil War battles to steamboat adventures. John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger weave a compelling narrative that illuminates the larger themes of slavery and freedom. To a remarkable degree, this small family experienced the full gamut of slavery, witnessing everything from the breakup of slave families, brutal punishment, and runaways, to miscegenation, insurrection panics, and slave patrols. They also illuminate the hidden lives of virtually free slaves, who maintained close relationships with whites, maneuvered within the system, and gained a large measure of autonomy. The Thomas-Rapiers were keen observers of the human condition. Through the eyes of this exceptional family and the indomitable black woman who held them together, we witness aspects of human bondage otherwise hidden from view.

Bol

This title presents a head on challenge to the prevailing view that Post-Second World War Ireland was in a state of chaos. In his book, Preventing the Future , Tom Garvin argues that old culture, old ideas and the repression of the Church held Ireland's development in check through the 1940s and 50s. It is a widely held view that the catholic culture of the island was a check on our progress. In Search of the Promised Land offers a different perspective. This book argues that in fact the various administrations were open to change and new ideas. That changes in thinking at both a governmental and a non-governmental level led Ireland to adopt new and outward looking policies. That while some policy makers were reluctant to accept any form of multi-lateral trading arrangements which would alter protected industry and the country's privileged access to British markets, the severe economic crisis that affected Ireland throughout the 1950s led to the adoption of fresh economic thinking both within and outside the civil service. It was this fresh thinking that came from within the country and was championed by the people Garvin and his ilk see as holding back Ireland's progress, that eventually led to the association with Europe and the joining of the EEC. Far from holding the country back, the leadership and culture was seeking new ways to deal with the nations challenges.