Crossroads of Freedom

"Drawing on outstanding research into the notarial, parish, and judicial records from the heart of the old sugar plantation area of Bahia, Walter Fraga recaptures many of the individual stories that illuminate the process of slavery's end and the adjustments of masters and slaves to that process. Featuring fascinating stories with a strong human dimension, Crossroads of Freedom makes a wonderful contribution to an already-rich historiography."  - Stuart B. Schwartz, author of Sea of Storms: A History of Hurricanes in the Greater Caribbean from Columbus to Katrina

"Mary Ann Mahony has adeptly translated one of the best monographic histories of slaves for the vast sugar lands of Brazil. . . . This book extends Fraga’s 2004 dissertation and is a must read for specialists of slavery, emancipation, or Brazil, and, if contextualized, should be compelling to undergraduates and general readers as well. Highly recommended." - I. W. Read, Choice

"Undeniably an important study [that] points the way to a richer understanding of Brazilian slavery in the years around 1888." - Ryan Schumacher, Sounds and Colours

“This rich collection of documents constitutes a major contribution to the literature on post-emancipation Brazil.” - Oscar de la Torre, EIAL

"[C]arefully researched ... Crossroads of Freedom provides unique insights into what happened next following the emancipation of the slaves from the sugar plantations of Recôncavo." - Eugene Carey, Latin American Review of Books

"Crossroads of Freedom is a pleasure to read and a tremendous contribution to the study of slavery and abolition." - Anadelia A. Romano, Journal of Latin American Studies

"A masterful translation. . . . Crossroads of Freedom provides valuable insight into not only slavery and freedom in the Recôncavo of Bahia and Brazil by extension, but also how these social forces informed Brazilian race relations more generally and the directives of the black liberation struggle in terms of battling persistent patterns of social inequality." - G. Reginald Daniel, Bulletin of Latin American Research

"Crossroads of Freedom is a work that is both historiographically valuable and accessible for undergraduate students." - Michael Shane Powers, Journal of Global South Studies

"Impeccably translated. . . . Besides its relevance to the history of slavery and abolition, Crossroads of Freedom is an important contribution to social history and labor history." - Mariza de Carvalho Soares, American Historical Review

"Walter Fraga's book is undoubtedly one of the most important results of Brazilian social history that has been produced in the past 15 years." - Alain El Youssef, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

"Mahoney’s introduction and added comments in the endnotes help set the stage for this extraordinary story of abolition and freedom." - Dale T. Graden, History: Reviews of New Books