"This book provides a clear overview of the entire history of British involvement with slavery and the slave trade, from the Cape Colony to the Caribbean. Covering over two centuries and four continents, the book combines economic, social, political, cultural, and demographic history, with a particular focus on the Atlantic world and the plantations of North America and the West Indies from the mid-seventeenth century onwards. As well as providing the idea introduction to the history of British involvement in the slave trade, this book also shows just how deeply embedded slavery was in British domestic and imperial history - and just how long it took for British involvement in slavery to die, even after emancipation."--BOOK JACKET.