The Sounds of Slavery: Discovering African American History through Songs, Simons, and Speech

Description

Allowing us to eavesdrop on the past, The Sounds of Slavery is a fascinating, innovative, and accessible account of the aural dimension of slavery. Through vivid anecdotes and firsthand accounts, White and White expand our historical ear from the 1700s through the 1850s, showing how profoundly slaves shaped the American soundscape. From the quotidian sounds of a plantation at dawn to the baying of hounds on the trail of runaways to whistling in Richmond, Virginia, in the 1850s, this book is the closest we'll ever get to imagining and re-creating the diverse sounds of slavery. Enhancing the experience with an 18-track CD compilation--with most of the tracks recorded in the 1930s--White and White enable us to hear a complex history that for too long has been silent.