Overview
Through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it was a fact universally acknowledged that any man in want of a great fortune ought find himself a Caribbean heiress. Their assets, the product of the exploitation of enslaved Africans, enabled them to marry into the top tiers of the aristocracy and attracted the attention of fortune-hunters. They fell in love (not always with their husbands), eloped, divorced, squandered fortunes, threw parties, went mad and (in once case) faked a daughter’s death.
In her much anticipated follow up to Black Tudors, Miranda Kaufmann peers beneath our pastel-hued, Jane Austen inspired image of the Georgian heiress to reveal a murky world of inheritance, fortune-hunting and human exploitation.
Uncovering the lives of nine women who made their fortunes in the Caribbean slave trade, Heiresses provides a compelling and often shocking account of how Britain profited and continues to profit from the slave trade. In the vein of Empireland, Natives and White Debt, Heiresses promises a meticulously researched and readable exploration of the darker side of British history.
This book title, Heiresses (Marriage, Inheritance, and Slavery in the Caribbean), ISBN: 9781639368297, by Miranda Kaufmann, published by Pegasus Books (September 2, 2025) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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