The Book Prize Index

The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation

David Brion Davis

"From the revered historian--winner of nearly every award given in his field--the long-awaited conclusion of his magisterial three-volume history of slavery in Western culture that has been more than fifty years in the making. David Brion Davis is one of the foremost historians of our time, and in this final volume in his monumental trilogy on slavery in Western culture he offers highly original, authoritative, and penetrating insight into what slavery and emancipation meant to Americans. He explores how the Haitian revolution terrified and inspired white and black Americans respectively, and offers a commanding analysis of the complex and misunderstood significance of "colonization"--the project to move freed slaves back to Africa--to members of both races and all political persuasions.

HistoryAmerican History · medium confidenceAmerican History81 signalsLlm Classifier: American History -> American HistoryOpen Library: Free African Americans -> Race & EthnicityOpen Library: African Americans -> Race & EthnicitySlavery & EmancipationReconstructionAfrica & the African Diaspora

Award History

1 wins · 2 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor2014WinnerSecondary source
Cundill History PrizeMajor2014FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (2)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • Haiti42%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    Slavery and emancipation in America are illuminated by how the Haitian revolution terrified and inspired Americans of both races, and by the complex significance of colonization for freed slaves.

    Model confidence 47%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    55 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 66%.