Prof. Harries examines the surprising role the Cape played in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the challenges the Royal Navy was forced to deal with in stopping slave ships.
Professor Patrick Harries' (Basel University) examination of the historical role the Cape area played in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade offers significant conclusions on the challenges the Royal Navy faced in prohibiting the slave trade, the reality of conditions aboard slave ships, and how historians might view P.G. Hill's classic work 'Fifty Days on Board a Slave Vessel'.