This is an insightful, detailed, and well-researched narration of a dark episode of history. While I have read a lot of fictional works based on slavery and colonialism, this is my first ever non-fiction reading.
I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it instead of listening to an audiobook.

This work focuses on the slave trade in the United States during the Civil War, which is a topic that doesn’t come up often usually do to how fragmentary the documentation is during this time. There were many topics discussed relating to slavery, from how cotton was a driving force, to how the State enabled the continuation of slavery in laws, to how the motives for selling slaves evolved during the war. The slave trade was used greatly as market speculation during the war by Southerners, with some buying as many as possible because they were certain the Confederacy would win, to others not being able to sell their slaves fast enough. There was also a large focus on New Orleans, as the slave trade and cotton made up a giant portion of its economy during this time.

Something this work did well was to humanize the enslaved. There were many instances when they were named and direct quotes were used, which I feel is rare in many other Civil War histories I’ve encountered. The author also had a good discussion of sources that were used for this book, including those that were primary sources from enslaved individuals.

This is an insightful and informative work of history that I highly recommend if you enjoy American history, especially surrounding the Civil War (or even if you don’t, as I tend to not seek out history from this time). My thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A highly researched academic work that would serve as a great tool for studies on slavery.

This book fills a critical gap in our understanding of the Civil War period by providing important insights into slavery’s ongoing effect on the Confederacy and its relationship with the government. It is required reading for anybody interested in an in-depth examination of the slave trade’s longevity during this difficult time in history.

The author provides a new perspective on the continued slave trade during the Civil War. He explains how individual slave owners and the Confederate government were determined to keep buying and selling individuals even when they were on the verge of losing the war. Colby describes how deeply rooted slavery was in the Confederate states and how it was tightly linked to the government. His extensive study reveals the extreme measures some American slaveholders took to justify owning slaves. He also demonstrates how the Confederate government actively encouraged and facilitated human trafficking during the conflict.

One thing the author excels at is blending the viewpoints of the enslaved with those who exploited their situation for profit. Colby’s superb attention to detail provides readers with a rich historical insight, deeply exploring the intricate dynamics of slavery and its economic impact during the Civil War.

An Unholy Traffic is an excellent resource, particularly for academics and people interested in a thorough examination of historical settings. However, it is important to note that the audiobook version could prove difficult to follow, making it more suitable for scholarly audiences rather than casual history listeners.

This audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This history book is expertly and interestingly narrated by James R. Cheatham. With a nonfiction history text, it's incredibly important to have a narrator with a personable voice. The last thing a casual reader of history wants with a text like this is to be put to sleep by a boring professorial droning style narration. Cheatham handles this superbly with the exception of his pronunciation of African-American Vernacular English. There's a few direct quotes from formerly enslaved folks included in the text, and the narrator seems to struggle with pronunciation. Otherwise, it was very well done keeping the flow of text interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and fully plan to buy a copy of this for my own personal studies on the so-called peculiar institution. The author is extremely respectful in his discussions of enslaved folks, using the term 'enslaved' vs 'slave', which I appreciated. He avoided language like slave concubine or mistress in describing enslaved women and their situationships with white male slave owners or handlers. This isn't often done, especially if the focus is the Confederacy. I've found historians hesitate to face the horrors of slavery if the focus is from the point of view of Southerners. That's not an issue in this text, and as much as possible, we hear directly from the enslaved themselves.

While I have extensively studied chattel slavery as experienced by West Africans across the diaspora, I'm not as familiar with the US Civil War. Nor had I realized the deep impact that slavery had on the Confederate States. I mean, I knew the Civil War was about slavery and in defense of States Rights to own other human beings, but I hadn't realized how much actual trading in enslaved people continued during the war years.

In many ways, the hopefulness of the Confederacy can be judged by the dollar value enslaved folks are assigned during this period. This fluctuated based on the state, the advance of the Union Army, and enslaved folks' ability to run off to the Union. The Civil War caused many Confederate slave owners to speculate on what would make them the most money after the war. As a result, there was a rigorous trade in women and children. Children were often cheaper and judged based on the speculation of their adult labor. Women were purchased for what was called their 'increase'. I know that often enslaved folks' children brought their captors more money than their labor did. Once it was illegal to bring new enslaved folks over from Africa, that automatically increased the value of the enslaved folks already in the US. This was increased further by exploiting and breeding enslaved women and girls. So many Confederate soldiers advise their wives and families to invest in these specific type of enslaved people. Enslaved men always ran away the most, and the war increased these fears in Confederate slave owners.

Truly interesting was that many enslaved families were broken up and displaced during this period. Husbands, wives, children, and other family members sold apart from each other. Often sold deeper into the Confederacy in hopes of keeping the enslaved from Union promises of freedom. Or ruining that freedom by leaving the enslaved states away from beloved family members. As a final act of cruelty, many former enslavers refused their formerly enslaved any information about where their loved ones had been sold or relocated to. This cruel practice drastically increased suffering for the formerly enslaved and still impacts Black Americans today. Most of us struggle to locate lost family members as slave owners records are still today considered private property. In essence, my ancestors are still owned by the descendants of those who enslaved them as the information has been refused to my family. It's infuriating and unfair. Their records should've been confiscated during Reconstruction.

It was surprising to read about the rigorous sale of enslaved and free Black folks during the Civil War. Free Black folks were stolen and sold further south by regular slave traders. Escaped formerly enslaved folks who freed themselves could be returned to slavery or sold to other enslavers by Union soldiers looking to make quick money. In Union held Slave States like Maryland & Kentucky, enslaved folks were smuggled into Confederate States to be sold at higher prices. Confederate soldiers stole other Confederates enslaved folks to make quick money. Some enslaved folks were sold to punish them by owners upset about the Civil War. Even as prices dropped, this rather rigorous trade continued even into 1865!

I learned a lot about how slavery operated in the Confederacy and a bit about how it worked in the Union. This really added depth to my understanding of this period in history.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

In the book An Unholy Traffic, slave trading in the Civil War south by Robert KD Colby with great narating by James R Chisholm we learn about southern slave owners in their reaction to the end of what they considered their livelihood slavery as we all know it was a big business and as the end of slavery came closer reactions were different. Some sold their slaves further south some even soldiers fighting for the confederacy bought slaves to send them south some were much crueler to their slaves and some were even nicer trying to prevent their slaves from running away but in the end freedom would come. In Virginia the big slave owner Mr. Lumpkin who ironically was married to one of his slaves and had five children with her would deny it ending until the bitter end I love that win Hells half acre which was the name of the building he held slaves in like prisoners how many slaves who lost family members to Lumpkin were able to face him and how the reporter said he winced under their stair. The had a slave owner who after losing his slaves shot his self they had others who wouldn’t tell former slaves where they sent their children just to be petty the reactions were varied mini slavers would recaptor free slaves but that had been going on since the beginning of slavery as far as I know and not a result of the Civil War even with the end of slavery being near some slave owners double down others sold love ones to free slaves the stories are mini and I found it very hard to stop listening to this audiobook I am very leery when it comes to reading things about the Civil War in slavery because I have read so many books and I’m always fearful it will be something I read already but most everything I read in this book was new to me this was a great topic to cover a terrible time in our history in another boat Thor makes me wish I had a time machine and a gun. To those like me who love reading about the Civil War era and the freeing of people that should’ve never been captive in the first place should definitely have this book in there library. I love that freed slaves were just as determined to retrieve their family members as slave owners were to keep them there’s many stories in this book that will make you sad happy thoughtful incredulous etc. it is a really good reading one I definitely recommend. I want to thank HighbridgeAudio and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.