Well written, factual, and a necessary read, in my opinion. My hope is that it would be required reading and my sadness is because I know that will never be the case.

Well written, in-depth look at various aspects of society that were invented or created by white men while exploiting black lives. Examples include the railroad, formal police departments, the cotton gin, and finance. Essential reading to continue to learn about the history of the US and to stay informed about how many modern day institutions were created with the intent to exclude certain people.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley & Amistad Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this. However, I am unable to read and review it at this time so I'm shelving this for now to read at a later time.

A difficult and at times depressing must read. This should be taught in school. Working backwards from American slavery to the present, Ford presents a compelling and chilling history.

An astounding textbook like experience, "Of Blood and Sweat" explains to us how, pretty much everything white people have, was built off black labor, slavery. Even if this was really dense (one of the books that took me the longest to finish, 2 and a half months), I don't think it's mean to be a lighthearted read that you can read in a couple of hours, it's a book that needs to be comprehended and it deserves your whole attention. It's incredible how these themes aren't taught in school with this much introspection, I feel (and know) a lot of people wouldn't act the way they do if they read stuff like this but I guess that's another conversation. Overall, really grateful for what this book did and hope everyone that reads it appreciates it.

This book was a bit different than I expected and took a while to get started for that reason. However, once I really dove in it proved to be a very strong addition to this area of non-fiction. I was expecting something like The 1619 Project, but this reads more like a history textbook than that. It looks at similar seems, but spends much more time on the historical time periods when men and women were enslaved and brought to the Americas. In that sense, I actually felt that it was a very strong companion piece to The 1619 Project. Both books focus on the same overarching themes yet cover different ground and unique insights. I think this time period in history is very rarely discussed from the perspective of this book and I learned a lot throughout. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has read The 1619 Project or These Truths, and even those who have not.

Of Blood and Sweat shows how white wealth and power in America was built on the literal backs of Black labor. While many can easily see how agriculture was impacted by slavery, what might not be as clear is that every system can trace it's roots to this despicable time in our history. From banking to insurance to policing and beyond, Ford maps the trail in detail. This book covers the time period from 1619, when the first slaves arrived in Jamestown, to the end of Reconstruction. He focuses on this time frame because this is when America was developing the policies, laws, and economics that shaped our nation. He considers this work to be Part 1 in an ongoing story. Of Blood and Sweat should be required reading in school, right alongside Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. America may have made some progress since slavery, but we still have so much farther to go. 4.5 stars

This book is really timely and very important. I learned so much about history through this book. I hope everyone reads it!