William A. Pettigrew is a professor of history at King’s College London. Since 2021 he has led the most comprehensive research and analysis ever undertaken into Britain’s involvement with the transatlantic traffic in enslaved African people. A prize-winning historian, Pettigrew is also series consultant on the BBC 2 TV series Finding Britain’s Slave Traders, which is based on his team’s findings and will be broadcast in autumn 2026.

Essentially, a new history of Britain . . . The strength of this book lies in its detachment. It’s not an angry diatribe against the slave traders and their cruel institution, but rather a calm, forensic investigation of how the slave trade evolved and embedded itself in everyday life. The traders emerge as entirely normal human beings who made positive contributions to society, but also freely engaged in an evil enterprise. That’s what makes this book so disturbing

William A. Pettigrew is a professor of history at King’s College London. Since 2021 he has led the most comprehensive research and analysis ever undertaken into Britain’s involvement with the transatlantic traffic in enslaved African people. A prize-winning historian, Pettigrew is also series consultant on the BBC 2 TV series Finding Britain’s Slave Traders, which is based on his team’s findings and will be broadcast in autumn 2026.

Essentially, a new history of Britain . . . The strength of this book lies in its detachment. It’s not an angry diatribe against the slave traders and their cruel institution, but rather a calm, forensic investigation of how the slave trade evolved and embedded itself in everyday life. The traders emerge as entirely normal human beings who made positive contributions to society, but also freely engaged in an evil enterprise. That’s what makes this book so disturbing

William A. Pettigrew is a professor of history at King’s College London. Since 2021 he has led the most comprehensive research and analysis ever undertaken into Britain’s involvement with the transatlantic traffic in enslaved African people. A prize-winning historian, Pettigrew is also series consultant on the BBC 2 TV series Finding Britain’s Slave Traders, which is based on his team’s findings and will be broadcast in autumn 2026.

Essentially, a new history of Britain . . . The strength of this book lies in its detachment. It’s not an angry diatribe against the slave traders and their cruel institution, but rather a calm, forensic investigation of how the slave trade evolved and embedded itself in everyday life. The traders emerge as entirely normal human beings who made positive contributions to society, but also freely engaged in an evil enterprise. That’s what makes this book so disturbing