Richard Bell (6) (1978–)

An incredibly, riveting book about the Reverse Underground Railroad which ran during the same time that the Underground Railroad was operating.
This part of our history has never been so clearly researched, and spoken about with the appropriate attention and essential compassion. I was shocked learn about what went on during and after the Civil War. The terrorizing of our free citizens is as appalling then as what we still hear about today. This is a must read book for all Americans. No more sanitizing history.… (mais)

Stolen tells the story of five boys kidnapped from Philadelphia in 1825 and forced to journey south to be sold into slavery. It is just one story of the "Reverse Underground Railroad", the name for the groups of kidnappers who stole thousands of free Blacks from the north in the first six decades of the 1800s, and who sought to profit by selling them south to slavery. Children were especially targeted, as they were less likely to resist. Dozens of children were kidnapped from Philadelphia in 1825 alone. What sets the story of these five boys apart is that four of them made it back to freedom.

The author notes that by 1825 the Reverse Underground Railroad sold as many free Blacks into slavery as the Underground Railroad sheparded enslaved Blacks to freedom. Since the Reverse Underground Railroad was a criminal, though tolerated, enterprise, by design it left very few records of any kind, and thus very few individual stories can be told with any historical accuracy. Stolen makes use of available records around this one case to take us in depth and in detail through the kidnapping and journey these children took.

Last fall I read I've Got a Home in Glory Land which told the story of the flight from Kentucky of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn on the Underground Railroad to freedom in Toronto. Like that book, this one takes full advantage of the historical material available about their central figures to yield a well researched and well written story.

You will be gripped by the story of these boys' kidnappings, their harrowing journey south, the white men who interceded for them, and their amazing return to freedom to testify against their kidnappers. I rate Stolen 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I really liked this book. I was moved by the boys' story. I recommend it.… (mais)

I'd read enough about the reverse underground railroad to understand, intellectually, the brutality and horror of it all. With Stolen, Richard Bell takes this backdrop and presents the true story of five free black boys who'd been kidnapped and swept up into slavery. By personalizing this piece of history, Bell makes us feel it. Imagine being a ten-year-old child yanked off the street, beaten, transported to another state, and sold, all because your skin is the right - or wrong - color. Then imagine being that child's parent and having absolutely no legal recourse because your skin is dark and no one cares. This is the truth Bell shares with us.

I'm not sure I can put into words how vital this book is. Schools teach us a sanitized version of history, which does, perhaps, more harm than good.

While the content is intense, the writing style is an easy to read, casual narrative. This isn't a long, time-consuming read requiring a huge commitment. Almost half of the book is the research notes at the end.

The book contains quite a few images. I read this in ebook format, which never really does justice to images. They're small and it's difficult to see detail. I highly recommend buying the print version.

*I received a review copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.*… (mais)

This book was fabulously and thoroughly researched, and is yet another example of the amazing and fascinating stories out there, hiding in newspaper articles, city council minutes, and court records. At one time everyone knew of these stories due to the extensive newspaper coverage, and now no one does. These are the stories that get people interested in history, yet most students in middle and high school are still taught boring famous name-date-place history, rather than history involving regular people--tradesmen, apprentices, county officials, landowners, jury members, newsmen, abolitionist groups members, farmers, sailors, newspaper readers.

In this book Bell examines the story of 4 free black boys and 1 runaway kidnapped into slavery in Philadelphia in the 1820s. They, a woman legally purchased, and a woman kidnapped in Delaware were forced into a coffle overland to Mississippi with their small-time kidnappers. One boy (the literate one, unsurprisingly) was sold in Tuscaloosa. The rest were taken on. And then, in Mississippi, one of the boys was beaten to death by his kidnapper. And then another told his entire story to a potential purchaser.

And what did that man do? He told. He got the courts involved. The county official wrote to the mayor of Philadelphia, and in the end--well over a year later--the kidnap victims were freed and returned home.

The story itself is amazing--the cast of characters that made this seemingly impossible story happen. A nearly bankrupt wanna by plantation owner, county- and state-level government officials, the mayor of Philadelphia and his high constable, judges, two Methodists, an Alabama jury, a Scottish immigrant who traveled from Philadelphia to Alabama on his own dime to testify, and random people called in on favors--all came together to get the 4 surviving kidnap victims home.

The story is fascinating, so many people I would not expect to care affected the outcome of this particular instance. Mayor Watson of Philadelphia tried to rescue other victims kidnapped by the same Delaware gang, but was largely unsuccessful. Solomon Northrup chronicled his own story in [book:Twelve Years a Slave|18478222]--and while the story Bell tells only covers about 2 years, the time lag before telephones, the internet, and truly reliable mail service is astonishing. The kidnap victims spent weeks trekking overland, and then months and months essentially living as and being treated as slaves (back pay was not awarded in their freedom suit), just waiting for mail to go back and forth.

The other amazing thing about this story is the sources. And the research it took to pull them together. Court minutes and documents, newspaper articles, pamphlets, journals, legislative records, minutes from abolition groups, and so many more primary sources--they are out there, in different states and counties and archives, just waiting to be combined with their counterparts from other places.… (mais)