Billy G. Smith is Distinguished Professor of Letters and Science in the History Department of Montana State University, where he has won every major teaching and research award offered. He is the author or editor of eight books and dozens of articles. He lives in Bozeman, MT.
“This stunning book should catapult to the top of the must-read
list for Atlantic basin studies. In this gripping, grisly story of
slavery, rebellion and yellow fever holocaust ricocheting around
the Atlantic rim, Smith brilliantly shows how stowaway mosquitoes
on a single ship reconfigured the societies of Africa, Europe, the
West Indies, and North America as well as the armies and navies of
Great Britain and other maritime nations.”—Gary B. Nash, UCLA
*Gary B. Nash*
“Ship of Death is a magnificent achievement by a historian at the
height of his powers. Bringing all of his considerable knowledge of
yellow fever, slavery and anti-slavery to bear, Smith illuminates
how social history can transform our understanding of the
narratives of imperial and Atlantic World history.”—Simon Newman,
University of Glasgow
*Simon Newman*
“Billy Smith’s Ship of Death is a brilliant and entirely original
history of the extraordinary voyages of the ‘antislavery’ ship
Hankey back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean in 1792-93. It is a
remarkable piece of historical detective work and, more important,
an inspirational story of one of the earliest efforts by
abolitionists to establish a haven of freedom for African
workers who might otherwise have been enslaved.”—Richard R. Beeman,
author of Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor: The Forging
of American Independence, 1774-1776
*Richard R. Beeman*
“Ship of Death is an astonishing story, based on an even more
astonishing craft of historical detection and reconstruction.
Billy G. Smith has written Atlantic history at its brilliant
best.”—Marcus Rediker, author of The Amistad Rebellion
*Marcus Rediker*
“[An] extraordinary new book about an anti-slavery initiative of
the 1790s, which instead of ending slavery ended the lives of
thousands of people on both sides of the Atlantic by bringing
yellow fever from Africa to the Americas. Fine original scholarship
by a top history sleuth – easy to read, eye-opening,
heart-rending.”—Ruth Richardson, Times Higher Education
*Times Higher Education*
"An excellent work of historical detection...While telling a
fascinating story, Smith provides insight into the cultures and
ethnocentricities of natives and colonists, and the workings of the
slave trade. Essential for early American and Haitian revolution
scholars and medical historians. Highly Recommended."—Choice
*Choice*
Winner of the 2014 Norris and Carol Hundley Award given by the
Pacific Coast Branch American Historical Association.
*Pacific Coast Branch American Historical Association*
"Smith has traveled the world to gather an impressive range of
sources for this work."—Jamie Diane Wilson, University of South
Carolina
*The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography*
"Engaging. . . . Smith constantly connects pieces of the story to
world events, making this a good read for those with or without a
lot of historical knowledge."—Historian
*Historian*
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