Kindle Price: $2.99

Save $15.00 (83%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

eTextbook features:
  • Highlight, take notes, and search in the book
  • Create digital flashcards instantly
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Noel Rae
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Great Stain: Witnessing American Slavery 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Noel Rae (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 55 ratings
See all formats and editions
“Eyewitness testimonies to the culture and commerce of slavery . . . coupled with smart commentary” from an acclaimed historian. “Essential.”(Kirkus Reviews)
 
In this important book, Noel Rae integrates firsthand accounts into a narrative history that brings the reader face to face with slavery’s everyday reality.  From the travel journals of sixteenth-century Spanish settlers who offered religious instruction and “protection” in exchange for farm labor, to the diaries of Reverend Cotton Mather, to Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted’s travelogue about the “cotton states,” to an 1880 speech given by Frederick Douglass, Rae provides a comprehensive portrait of the antebellum history of the nation. Most significant are the testimonies from former slaves themselves, ranging from the famous Solomon Northup to the virtually unknown Mary Reynolds, who was sold away from her mother as child. Drawing on thousands of original sources, The Great Stain tells of a society based on the exploitation of labor and fallacies of racial superiority. Meticulously researched, this is a work of history that is profoundly relevant to our world today.
 
“Noel Rae expertly assembles the most consequential accounts from the era of the American slave trade. . . . A vivid and comprehensive picture.” —Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
 
“Uniquely immediate, multivoiced, specific, arresting, and illuminating.” —Booklist
 
“Many histories have been written of slavery in America, but far too few have let the participants, and particularly the victims, speak so directly for themselves. Rae has helped to fill that historical vacuum in this important work, and the voices are intense, eloquent, and haunting.”
—National Book Review
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-1468315134
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    ABRAMS Press
  5. Publication date
    February 20, 2018
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    14474 KB
  8. See all details
Next page
Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

Review

Rae expertly assembles the most consequential accounts from the era of the American slave trade. Drawing on a wide range of sources, he frames a vivid and comprehensive picture of a period in American history about which many only have a vague understanding.

-- "Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author"

Narrator Steven Crossley's deep, slightly raspy voice and English accent are instilled with a tone that evokes the voice-over of the classic British documentary.

-- "AudioFile"

To allow narrative voices, black and white, to come through, Rae draws on a remarkable assemblage of documents...as well as oral histories of former slaves and excerpts from the writings of free persons who lived in the South...The result is a uniquely immediate, multivoiced, specific, arresting, and illuminating look at life under slavery in America.

-- "Booklist (starred review)"

Covers the complete story of American slavery from the start of the transatlantic trade in the fifteenth century to slavery's end...Highly recommended.

-- "Library Journal (starred review)"

This book and its wealth of documents and reports make a welcome, ready reference. Essential for students of American slavery and antebellum history.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

A moving, eye-opening account of the complexity and horror of human bondage. The testimony of slaves is particularly powerful...Essential. For all public, general, and undergraduate collections.

-- " Choice"

About the Author

Noel Rae is the author of The People's War: Original Voices of the American Revolution and Witnessing America: The Library of Congress Book of First-Hand Accounts of Public Life, and is the editor of This is Berlin: Radio Broadcasts from Nazi Germany, a collection of William Shirer's radio broadcasts. He lives in Westchester, New York.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07MXCL532
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ ABRAMS Press; 1st edition (February 20, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 20, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 14474 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 765 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 55 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Noel Rae

Noel Rae

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
55 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Yvonne Becker
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stain
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
Excellent product and service-praise the Lord!
Helpful
 Report
Maggie Grace JT
5.0 out of 5 stars Arrived on time in good condition
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
Book in good condition
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Why slavery at all
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
This books takes a painful subject and infuses it with interesting first account narratives. Indeed it shows man's inhumanity to man is multi faceted. Remarkable amount of research is demonstrated.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for ALL AMERICANS
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is essential reading for ALL AMERICANS. Getting into the minds of all parties involved in the first or second greatest blight on the American character (the other being the Amerindian genocide) was enlightening and thought-provoking. In addition, this book is not just for historians or students. The stories embedded within the book are riveting and the ideas suggested could form the bases of movies, Ph.D. theses, novels and countless other projects. Noel Rae's first book on the American Revolution got me hooked on his way of thinking about history and I look forward to his next project.
15 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Cogito Ergo Sum
5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Significant Book of the Year
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2018
For anyone who is interested in a compact history of American slavery, this book is the definitive source. I cannot recall ever learning anything significant about slavery while in school. The only thing I knew was the whitewashed version of slave life in Gone with the Wind. When Roots opened my eyes to some of the things that slaves had to endure, I became more interested. A few years ago, I learned that many of my ancestors were slaveholders. I wanted to understand why anyone could think it was okay to own another human being, so I decided to educate myself. Since that time, I have read many books on slavery, including slave narratives. This book puts all of these accounts in one place. The Great Stain was well written, edited, and organized. There is only one change I would have made to the book, and that would be to create a more comprehensive index. I rarely pay more than $20 for a book, but I spent $29 for The Great Stain. I consider the edition to be the most significant book of the year and one that every American should read. It includes the reported accounts of slaves, slaveholders, and other witnesses (many in their own words) who lived during this horrendous period of history. Reading their stories broke my heart.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
frank oldrant
5.0 out of 5 stars this book is crazy good. deplorable
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2018
this book is crazy good. deplorable, sad, riveting, thought provoking. Noel is such a gifted writer. I felt as if I was present during the many atrocities documented. a witness to history. the writer is such a talent!
I'm not quite finished with the book, but I can say it's one of the best, if not the best book, I've read on American slavery-- and I've read many.
gives you a great feeling for how this mess grew from the beginning to end. the initial attempt to spread religion, tribal wars, greedy pigs, foul evil men and women. a revolting and captivating account of the rotten miasma within the human race. if you thought people were evil, wait till you read this book!
In addition, it's a great primer on how people lived in the late 17th century till right after the Civil War. lots of great detail and info on everyday life and culture in the South.
I cannot recommend this book enough. words fail me in my praise for The Great Stain: Witnessing American Slavery. Every American, European and African, should read this book.
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
DM
5.0 out of 5 stars An American Sin Illuminated
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019
Rae uses first person accounts to graphically illuminate the American institution of slavery. Rae dissects slavery and its inception as an American institution and how it developed and was formed by racial attitudes. He traces the capture, transport and arrival of Africans in the Americas. The book gives a vivid narrative of the relationship of Africans, their captors, their masters and those around them that supported slavery. Rae’s descriptions of American slavery are vivid and informative and span hundreds of years and the white cultures that adopted slavery as their prime economic mover. Rae’s narratives paint a vivid and compelling picture of slavery in the America’s that inform and challenge the reader as to the real nature of black slavery in the Americas. This is a must read.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
joseph mcmullen
5.0 out of 5 stars or the mother of a scholar athlete from Duke say her child was treated worse than a slave are sad sounds of witless ignorance
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2018
Rae uses contemporaneous letters and diary entries to tell the story. Stripping away adjectives and hyperbole, dehumanizing trading in human life is very real recent history. Because the victims were prevented from learning to write, we read from unblinking current accounts from a world of depravity made normal, in diaries, bills of lading and management reports. Kanye's reference to slavery as a choice, or the mother of a scholar athlete from Duke say her child was treated worse than a slave are sad sounds of witless ignorance. The Great Stain is required reading for every student of American History or African American Studies.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report