An extraordinary and shocking white-slaving historical narrative from the worldwide bestselling author of NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG.
White Gold
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Amazon Review
Writer and journalist Giles Milton specializes in the history of travel and exploration. His latest literary adventure, White Gold, is the story of Thomas Pellow, a Cornish cabin boy who was captured at sea by a group of fanatical Islamic slave traders—the Barbary corsairs, taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Salè in Morocco and sold to the highest bidder. Pellow’s purchaser happened to be the tyrannical sultan of Morroco, Moulay Ismail, a man committed to building a vast imperial pleasure palace of unsurpassable splendour built entirely by Christian slave labour. After enduring long periods of torture Pellow converted to Islam and became the personal slave of the sultan for over two decades—including a stint as a soldier in the sultan’s army—before finally making a dramatic escape and return to Cornwall. The account is supported by the unpublished letters and manuscripts of slaves and the various ambassadors sent to free them. This is an excellently written account of the history of the white slave trade. Pellow’s story is an extraordinary one but the real interest lies in the picture Milton builds of life in the slave pens and especially of daily life at the court of the spectacularly barbaric Moulay Ismail. --Larry Brown
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Milton's story could scarcely be more action packed ... If what you want from your history is violent action, exotic locations, a colourful villain and a resourceful hero, you'll find them in this book' Sunday Times
'Milton has created a truly gripping tale...His research is impeccable and his narrative reads in part like a modern-day Robert Louis Stevenson novel.' (The Sunday Times)
'A magnificent piece of popular history' (Independent on Sunday)
Acclaim for NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG: 'The thoroughness and intelligence of his research underpins the lively confidence with which he deploys it' (Times Literary Supplement) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'Milton has created a truly gripping tale...His research is impeccable and his narrative reads in part like a modern-day Robert Louis Stevenson novel.' (The Sunday Times)
'A magnificent piece of popular history' (Independent on Sunday)
Acclaim for NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG: 'The thoroughness and intelligence of his research underpins the lively confidence with which he deploys it' (Times Literary Supplement) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have been a huge fan of Milton since Nathaniels Nutmeg, which was a phenomenal story. The whole point of his books are to take periods of history, little understood, and create a vivid story. It would be wrong to say it reads like fiction, because one is fully aware you are reading a book of history, but it is told with so much enthusiasm and poise as to make it eminently readable.
The story, as one would guess, is of the little known tale of white slaves that were captured bu the Barbary corsairs and sold to such places as Morocco and Algiers (Algeria). It goes into graphic detail about the conditions and brutality they endured, and the cruelty of their owners, particularly a despotic sultan of Morocco. I mean, you couldn't make up moulay Ismail, a brutal and ruthless villain, who was so unpredictable he could sometimes forgive even treason.
The character we follow is a chap called Thomas Pellow, captured at 11, and subjected to 23 years (ish) slavery. It follows his beatings, his enforced conversion to Islam, his rise in authority in the grandiose palace of Meknes, to when he even defied the Sultan yet lived. He then became a renegade, and thought in an army of such people, and made numerous desperate escape attempts.
Utterley absorbing. We follow sieges, naval battles, tortures, awful executions, daring emissaries, desperate escapes, betrayals. You couldn't ask for much more. If you like your history fast paced and bloody, this is for you.
The story, as one would guess, is of the little known tale of white slaves that were captured bu the Barbary corsairs and sold to such places as Morocco and Algiers (Algeria). It goes into graphic detail about the conditions and brutality they endured, and the cruelty of their owners, particularly a despotic sultan of Morocco. I mean, you couldn't make up moulay Ismail, a brutal and ruthless villain, who was so unpredictable he could sometimes forgive even treason.
The character we follow is a chap called Thomas Pellow, captured at 11, and subjected to 23 years (ish) slavery. It follows his beatings, his enforced conversion to Islam, his rise in authority in the grandiose palace of Meknes, to when he even defied the Sultan yet lived. He then became a renegade, and thought in an army of such people, and made numerous desperate escape attempts.
Utterley absorbing. We follow sieges, naval battles, tortures, awful executions, daring emissaries, desperate escapes, betrayals. You couldn't ask for much more. If you like your history fast paced and bloody, this is for you.
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
By Neil Limbert
Format:Hardcover
Brilliant research and background work bring to life the story of Morocco's White slave trade. Milton has the skill of a novelist and manages to engage the reader immediately. His stories of Barbary corsairs sailing with inpunity up and down the English channel during the 17th century is incredible-particularly the year when they established a slave gathering base on Lundy Island. He estimates over 1 million European slaves were taken. He centralises his story around Thomas Pellow who endured 23 years in captivity before escaping.
I thoroughly recommend this book to all lovers of well written history.It fills a gap in our knowledge.
I thoroughly recommend this book to all lovers of well written history.It fills a gap in our knowledge.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By PlumaSerrana
Format:Paperback
THis book ought to be highly recommended reading for the following people:
a) those who ask the questions "what is history for?" and "why should we bother with history?". They may have their minds challenged, at least once, because if they are not challenged by this book, those people not only haven't got a brain, they don't have a heart either.
b) those who armed with statistics forget the deeper human side to every event or series of events; it might be ink on paper but it took blood, sweat and tears to produce this story of those awful events. Our day and age has also its share of awful events which may or may be reported about, and when they are, they just become part of a numbers game.
c) those that still believe "that would have never happened to us, never did, never will". Those who ignore history are those most likely to repeat it. Such people also tend to not see any holes in their tidy mental schemes which go along the mantra "our country set the world to rights and always came to the rescue of our people".
e) those that have either ignored or bypassed the fact that, of all the world civilizations that have practised slavery, it was only those cultures from Europe that turned their backs on practising slavery when they eventually listened to social reformers which, in England's case, was a Christian MP by the name of William Wilberforce. Where are the change of mind and practice, the apologies from non-European cultures towards the oppression they caused? Not only is the world still waiting, but they have not changed neither minds nor practices. Any replies sent on a postcard, please, and preferrably not from Darfur.
a) those who ask the questions "what is history for?" and "why should we bother with history?". They may have their minds challenged, at least once, because if they are not challenged by this book, those people not only haven't got a brain, they don't have a heart either.
b) those who armed with statistics forget the deeper human side to every event or series of events; it might be ink on paper but it took blood, sweat and tears to produce this story of those awful events. Our day and age has also its share of awful events which may or may be reported about, and when they are, they just become part of a numbers game.
c) those that still believe "that would have never happened to us, never did, never will". Those who ignore history are those most likely to repeat it. Such people also tend to not see any holes in their tidy mental schemes which go along the mantra "our country set the world to rights and always came to the rescue of our people".
e) those that have either ignored or bypassed the fact that, of all the world civilizations that have practised slavery, it was only those cultures from Europe that turned their backs on practising slavery when they eventually listened to social reformers which, in England's case, was a Christian MP by the name of William Wilberforce. Where are the change of mind and practice, the apologies from non-European cultures towards the oppression they caused? Not only is the world still waiting, but they have not changed neither minds nor practices. Any replies sent on a postcard, please, and preferrably not from Darfur.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. P. Holt
Format:Paperback
I had heard a snippet of information about how white Christian Europeans had been enslaved by the Sultans of Morocco, but this was missing from my history lessons. A well researched and written history of white slaves from the 1600's taken from many parts of Europe into North Africa, told from the story of a young Cornish boy Thomas Pellow who was held as a slave for twenty-three years before escaping back to Britain. Giles Milton has opened my eyes to knowledge I did not know was there. This led me on to reading the book White Cargo, of white slaves in the British American Colonies. Oh what else were we not taught at school. []
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By DB
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love Giles Milton's books. If you haven't read Nathaniel's Nutmeg or Samurai William, then do so.
I already knew a bit of this story - that Barbary corsairs raided the Cornish and Irish coasts in the seventeenth century for slaves, but I wasn't aware of the enormous scale of the Moroccan and Algerian white slave trade. Or that it continued up to the Congress of Vienna. And I had never heard of the dramatic incident that brought it to an end - a British fleet, massively armed thanks to Britain being in the first flush of the Industrial Revolution, pounding Algiers to rubble until the local sultan agreed to give up the trade.
And did you know that an abusive gesture used by Muslims to Christians was to raise the middle finger, to indicate that there was just one God? Anyway, a great read.
I already knew a bit of this story - that Barbary corsairs raided the Cornish and Irish coasts in the seventeenth century for slaves, but I wasn't aware of the enormous scale of the Moroccan and Algerian white slave trade. Or that it continued up to the Congress of Vienna. And I had never heard of the dramatic incident that brought it to an end - a British fleet, massively armed thanks to Britain being in the first flush of the Industrial Revolution, pounding Algiers to rubble until the local sultan agreed to give up the trade.
And did you know that an abusive gesture used by Muslims to Christians was to raise the middle finger, to indicate that there was just one God? Anyway, a great read.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
I the resting but repetitive
Interesting story but the bulk of the book is lengthy descriptions of the horrors of the conditions of slaves in 18th century Morocco. Read more
Published 13 days ago by alastair sasaki mccapra
4.0 out of 5 stars
The history people dont want you to know
Though the British slave trade was nothing to be proud of there was also a north African slave trade going on where slaves were taken from southern England and Ireland by these... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Cooper
5.0 out of 5 stars
White Gold
This is one fanscinating story. A real insight that white people even from the UK where caught up in the slave trade. I recommend this read - highly
Published 2 months ago by Zillah Nicolle
5.0 out of 5 stars
reviewed by me
Think more should be heard about this book , it records a lot of our English history , which is not mentioned enough
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. B. J. Taylor-king
4.0 out of 5 stars
WELL RESEARCHED HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
This book tells the story of a west country sailor who was pirated away by north African slave traders. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Robin
5.0 out of 5 stars
My fav
this book is so interesting i can read this book again and again well worth buying if you enjoy a little history about the slavery that occurred on the trade seas... Read more
Published 4 months ago by lorna ross
5.0 out of 5 stars
The reality of Islam
.
A gripping and largely untold story. If you thought that all slaves were Africans, then think again. Read more
A gripping and largely untold story. If you thought that all slaves were Africans, then think again. Read more
Published 4 months ago by ralphy
5.0 out of 5 stars
A revelation about an area of history we skim over
Started to read this as I knew there was some connection with Admiral George Delaval of Seaton Delaval Hall and wanted to know more. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr R J Neilson
4.0 out of 5 stars
What the guide books don't tell you.
This was an interesting book particularly as I had just visited Morocco. I have learnt a lot which wasn't in the guide books.
Quite fascinating. Read more
Quite fascinating. Read more
Published 7 months ago by B. Winstone
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book you can read in one sitting (it's that good).
Picked this up in a whim from a charity shop for twenty-five pence.
Not a place or period in history that has previously attracted my interest but from reading the first... Read more
Not a place or period in history that has previously attracted my interest but from reading the first... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Helen
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