Denmark Vesey's Garden: Slavery and Memory in the Cradle of Confederacy

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Interest in Denmark Vesey: Following the Dylann Roof shooting in Charleston, interest in Denmark Vesey has surged, with major pieces covering his life in Time Magazine, USA Today, NPR, The New Yorker, Slate, The Washington Post, and many other newspapers and magazines.

Platform: Authors have written thirteen op-ed essays for the New York Times. They have also published op-eds with the Atlantic, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Durham Herald-Sun, the Sacramento Bee, and the Fresno Bee, among other publications.

Newsworthy topics: examines the motivations of Dylann Roof, and address ongoing debates over Confederate symbols, which have grown under the Trump administration.

Opportunities:

1) 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulrich B. Phillips's American Negro Slavery, once viewed as the nation's seminal history of slavery. Authors will pitch contact at the NYT (Clay Risen) on an op-ed on Phillips work.

2) Authors are preparing a series of additional op-eds for national publications to coincide with pub date.

"When South Carolina was the Most Progressive State in the Union," on the 150th anniversary of S.C. Constitutional Convention in mid-Jan 2018;

"When the Fourth of July was Black," timed to come out on July 4th, 2018.

Reviews

Praise for Denmark Vesey's Garden:
One of Janet Maslin's Favorite Books of 2018, The New York Times

One of John Warner's Favorite Books of 2018, Chicago Tribune

Named one of the "Best Civil War Books of 2018" by the Civil War Monitor

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018

2018 George C. Rogers Jr. Book Award Finalist

Named one of the "Summer Books 2018" selection by Times Literary Supplement

Named one of the "17 Refreshing Books to Read This Summer" by The New York Times

"A rigorous and timely study."
Black Perspectives

"Those who dismiss contemporary opposition to the Calhoun Monument as misplaced 'political correctness,' need to read Denmark Vesey's Garden, which shows the deep provenance of black Charlestonian's opposition to both Calhoun the man and the symbol."
The Post and Courier (Charleston)

"A fascinating and important new historical study. Denmark Vesey's Garden: Slavery and Memory in the Cradle of the Confederacy, by Ethan J. Kytle and Blain Roberts, examines Charleston as the capital of slavery in the United States and, therefore, the place where the ways slavery is remembered matter most. This book examines rival sets of memories: from a segregated tourism industry, which not long ago gave out different sets of information to different people, to today's fights over Civil War monuments."
Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"Denmark Vesey's Garden: Slavery and Memory in the Cradle of the Confederacy is vital to understanding some of the deepest fault lines in American life. . . . An excellent history of the divergent views of slavery."
Shelf Awareness

"A stunning contribution to the historiography of Civil War memory studies [that link] the memories and actions of black and white Charlestonians over the years to the present-day ideas motivating extremists like Dylann Roof. . . . This book speaks to the present as eloquently as it narrates the past."
Civil War Times

"The authors do an excellent job of tracing and exploring those competing visions [of slavery]. . . enriched by insightful analyses. . . . Those who read it will not just learn how the institution has been remembered but also wrestle with the ramification of America's slave past for its present and future."
Civil War Book Review

"A timely, well-researched, and deftly argued intervention with both scholarly and public importance."
Tropics of Meta

"[A] timely look at America's contested past. . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in or hoping to understand more about southern history, especially the ongoing debate over the representation of slavery and the Confederacy."
Library Journal

"Kytle and Robert's combination of encyclopedic knowledge of Charleston's history and empathy with its inhabitants' past and present struggle make them ideal guides to this troubled history."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Eye-opening history . . . an important and fascinating examination of American slaverys aftermath.
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Denmark Vesey's Garden uses the small place of Charleston, South Carolina, to tell a large tale, what we remember of history and what we prefer to forget. It is a fascinating and unflinching performance, showing that all of American history can inhabit a few greying square miles."
Edward Ball, National Book Awardwinning author of Slaves in the Family

Nothing has shaped this nation more than slavery and its legacy. Kytle and Robertss meticulous research, compelling writing, and thoughtful analysis are vital to our nation at a time when we are haunted by a history we need to understand more deeply.
Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

"Denmark Vesey's Garden reveals that the long struggle over how Americans remember slavery has been inseparable from the long struggle for racial justice."
Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Awardwinning author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

"Ethan Kytle and Blain Roberts remind us that the cost of whitewashing the history of racial enslavement and its legacies continues to be too great a burden to bear for American democracy. For any reader interested in current political debates over Civil War memory and monuments, this book is a must-read."
Manisha Sinha, Frederick Douglass Book Prizewinning author of The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition

"Denmark Vesey's Garden will have enormous implications for the entire country."
Douglas Egerton, author of Year of Meteors, Thunder at the Gates, and The Wars of Reconstruction

"Readers are drawn into a community where the shadows of slavery are ever-present and white and black Charlestonians jockey for influence over whether and how those shadows are acknowledged."
Fitzhugh Brundage, William B. Umstead Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina

"Kytle and Roberts's engaging style will remind readers of Edward Ball's work, Slaves in the Family, providing a new window onto the Charleston past and delivering an important message for the present."
Catherine Clinton, Denman Chair of American History, University of Texas, San Antonio, and president, Southern Historical Association

"Nuanced, beautifully written, and well researched, Denmark Vesey's Garden will interest specialized scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and ordinary readers who want to understand how the slave past shapes debates on race in the United States. For scholars working on the memory of slavery in other parts of the Atlantic world, this book provides a landmark to develop comparative studies and is also a rich model to be followed."
Ana Lucia Araujo, The American Historical Review

Author Bio

Ethan J. Kytle is a professor of history at California State University, Fresno and the author of Romantic Reformers and the Antislavery Struggle in the Civil War Era. Kytle lives in Fresno, California.
Blain Roberts is a professor of history at California State University, Fresno and the author of Pageants, Parlors, and Pretty Women. She lives in Fresno, California.