Flee North is the fascinating story of two men that helped formulate the idea of the Underground Railroad with their active efforts to help slaves escape to northern states and into Canada. The two men couldn’t have been more different in both appearance, temperament or the legacy they left behind. Thomas Smallwood was a cautious, middle aged freed man that was forgotten to history, and Charles Torrey was a young, tempestuous white man. The pair somehow connected and forged plans to help slaves escape. Then Torrey moves to Albany to edit a newspaper, and Smallwood continues in their efforts alone in Baltimore just a short walk away from one of the most notorious slave traders in the country. To help draw attention to the plight of the slaves that he is helping, Smallwood taunts the people the slaves escaped from in Torrey’s abolitionist paper. But the net begins drawing closer around Smallwood the longer he operates and as a Black man, he’s at risk of being enslaved himself if they can catch him and prove his role as an accomplice. He and his family escape to Canada, leaving Torrey to take up the mantle of responsibility again, and his life becomes endangered as well. This book draws attention to two things that don’t normally get a lot of attention during the abolition movement. The first is where the idea of the Underground Railroad originated. Just as important, if not more so, is the time it devotes to covering the slave trade within the country-from slave states that bordered free states and the move of people to both fill the demand for labor in the Deep South as well as make it more difficult for slaves to be able to escape to freedom. At points the book seems to drag some and almost get a little too buried in minutiae when it could move at a faster pace, but it’s still really fascinating.

Slavery was evil and despicable. Any reasonable person would agree. Scott Shane's Flee North adds a new adjective, messy.

Flee North mostly follows the daring adventures of former slave, Thomas Smallwood and his literal partner in crime, Charles Torrey. Both men would actively help slaves flee north towards safer environments in increasingly dangerous ways that would put both men's lives in danger. This conceit is enough for a great book, but what takes it to the next level is Shane's parsing out of just how many different viewpoints came into conflict during this time. Abolitionists were not all the same. Many people understand that, but Shane highlights those major differences while holding up both Smallwood and Torrey as heroes who were not always the easiest to get along with. Everyone could fall under the term, "abolitionist" but they were not all attempting to reach the same goal.

This book is a great read for someone who wants to leave more about the nitty gritty of the Mason-Dixon line during the time of slavery. It adds a tremendous amount of detail that most books skip right over.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Celadon Books.)