The Last Slave Ship

📚 The Last Slave Ship by Ben Raines

In 1860, more than fifty years after the United States outlawed the international slave trade, the Clotilda illegally carried 110 captive Africans to Alabama. The ship was burned and sunk to conceal the crime, but the people forced aboard lived on. After emancipation, survivors founded Africatown near Mobile, preserving their traditions and building a community of their own.

Journalist Ben Raines traces the ship’s voyage, the search for its wreck, and the experiences of descendants still confronting its legacy.

Combining maritime history, investigation, and stories of resilience, The Last Slave Ship is a powerful nonfiction read about recovering a painful past and honoring the people whose lives it shaped. (simonandschuster.com, publishersweekly.com)