This is a very well researched book about an important event in the history of English participation in slavery. The book is eye-opening. As a former Ohio resident I especially found the information and history of Wilborforce very interesting

I applied for this ARC because I loved The Wager by David Grann. I liked this book and enjoyed reading it. This type of non-fiction is great for the general population who want to read to enjoy something.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of a book that tells about an atrocity at sea and what followed, helping to change minds in Britain, and more importantly laws, laws that gave ideas to Americans, as well as a hope they could also end the idea and the institution of slavery in the Land of the Free.

For the longest time I always felt that Americans didn't pay attention to history because of our poor educational system, and a little bit of that American myth building. America doing bad things ruined the myth of the America they watched in movies, or learned in church, or heard from politicians, who voted to keep them uneducated. I am beginning to realize that Americans pay little attention to history because they hate being wrong. History shows what is wrong, how ideas that make sense at the time, in the light of day, a little clear thinking and a change in attitudes were clearly messed up. History smacks hard into nostalgia, the perfect 50's, the kids playing at all hours, clean streets and clean morals. This country is addicted to nostalgia, and nostalgia will probably end us in many ways. Books like this remind us that once people stood up and said, wait this is wrong. Stood up and make changes to their system. And gave even more people the courage to ask the same questions. Sadly it took a crime, actually a true atrocity at sea to do it. The Zorg A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery by Siddharth Kara is a book about slavery, the sea, and what happened when a group of slavers threw their cargo into the sea, an act not really considered a crime, but a spark that changed the world.

The book begins in Liverpool with a young doctor preparing to go to sea, not only to doctor the sailors on board his vessel, but to make sure that the cargo the boat would be carrying would make it to distant shores at a profit. This doctor was considered quite a crewman, able to keep his cargo of slaves healthy, even with the crowded conditions, disease, and apathy much of the human cargo had to deal with. From their the author shows the world of the 1780's with a colony, America in revolution, the port in Liverpool being quite busy, and the trade in slaves from Africa to the New World, mainly the plantations in the Caribbean quite lucrative. Kara looks at life at sea for the average sailor, the money that could be made, and the danger the crew faced. Navigation was mostly guesswork, the sea could be a harsh mistress. And what faced the human cargo, those slaves who were taken from their homes and freedom. The book follows the Zorg a Dutch ship, seized at sea by the British, and sailing to Jamaica with over 400 slaves. This ship was ill manned, and had many problems, including navigational, bad weather, and finally a lack of provisions, which lead to the tossing overboard of the human cargo, the weak, the women and the children, to keep the others alive. And what followed.

An important story that I knew little about, though I knew that Britain had ceased being involved in the slave trade, much earlier than America. This is a very powerful book, well-written and well-researched with lots of bits about life at sea, the weather, the sea currents, and relations between the nations. Kara does an excellent job of putting the reader on these boats of misery, and in the court rooms later when the outrage of the crimes started to get louder. There is really a lot here, a book that will appeal to many different readers for different reasons. What I appreciate is that Kara tried, though it would be impossible task in many ways to give voice to those who were trapped in bondage, telling what he could find, and how he went about it.

A really well done work of history, as I stated encompassing quite a bit of history, but written in a style that never bogs down or gets confusing. A really sad book, but one that is important in this day of erasing things that make us uncomfortable.

What a meticulously researched book! The details the author uncovered about the ship, Zorg, and the absolutely horrific and unimaginable last journey was beyond words. In the 1780s, the Zorg carried slaves from Africa to the Caribbean. The privateer put money over lives and filled the ship with more people than could safely sail. Between storms, an incompetent captain, too few sailors, lack of proper navigation, and not enough water, the ship's journey to Jamaica ended in tragedy. The ship's leaders decided to throw dozens of slaves overboard to save the crew and remaining slaves. This horror began the beginning of the abolition movement in England. The author gives you the history and background of this era and spares no detail to bring this disgusting time and event in history to light. The reader learns about the history of the slave trade, then you are introduced to the efforts that went into the abolition of slavery in England in the 1833. For as unbelievably horrific these events were, I was glad/honored/repulsed to learn more about the slave trade, middle passage, and abolition movement in England. As a retired teacher who taught my fifth graders about the triangle trade routes and the middle passage, I now realize how much more I should have taught them. If you are a reader who wants to learn more about history, I highly recommend this non-fiction book.

#TheZorg #NetGalley
Thank you St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I knew of the Zorg before starting this book, but I didn’t really know the story well. Siddharth Kara shortly remedied that.

The Zorg is a brutal, unflinching look at the Atlantic slave trade and the lives it ruined. It will make you furious in a way that only non-fiction about the vilest of human actions can. The British crew of the Zorg saw their fellow human beings as nothing more than cargo — so of course they didn’t hesitate to throw them overboard when they began to run out of food and water during a long trans-Atlantic voyage. That the crew’s own incompetence lead to them being lost didn’t matter to them; they saved themselves at the cost of murdering the Africans in their hold. This kicked off a trial concerning mostly insurance – but it also became a rallying point for slavery abolitionists in the UK and abroad.

There is of course extremely little historical account of the lives of the murdered Africans on the Zorg, but Kara makes the best use of what he has, filling in blanks with the testimony of those who did survive other voyages during the Atlantic slave trade. The result is a damning indictment of the greed of those who would subjugate others for profit. It’s well worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

In 1781, the slave ship Zorg took off from Africa overloaded with 442 slaves. With a novice captain, and makeshift crew, the ship was bound for disaster. After becoming lost in the Caribbean, a decision was made to throw approximately 130 slaves overboard. A zealous owner then decided to make an insurance claim against the lives of those slaves. He claimed necessity in their deaths. A lawsuit ensued, bringing the horrors of the middle passage to a wide audience, and ultimately leading to the abolishment of slavery in England.

I thought this book contained some great storytelling. Facts and story were blended together seamlessly. The author really brought the historical figures and horror of the middle passage to live. Overall, a must read!

I learned a lot about the details of how sailors were 'hired' and their lives on board the ship; now I understand why they were hard-hearted towards the helpless slaves. Also, the details of the slaves' lives after capture was enlightening and incredibly sad. The tensions between countries was useful. The only section I didn't like was the assumption of the captains' motives--both off the ship and on. And then there's the trial: I just didn't care about the details of the trial and eventually stopped reading. I'll recommend the book to customers, though, because everything else is a very good history of the time period and Atlantic slave-trade.

This is a highly engaging and informative history of the abolition of slavery in England and the horrible conditions of the Middle Passage of the slave trade. Highly recommend this title for all libraries.

The story revealed in this book was not well known. The Zorg was a slave trader ship, practicing the triangular trade routes in the 18th century. It would sail from Liverpool, England loaded with trade goods to trade for slaves along the "Guinea" coast of Africa. It would then transport the abducted men, women and children to Jamaica to be sold at an auction. The proceeds would be used to buy sugar, rum, molasses to take back to Liverpool.
In 1781, the ship took longer than usual to get to the Caribbean. When it did get there, it missed Jamaica due to incompetence. The then Captain, Robert Stubbs, realizing that the didn't have enough water to feed everyone, ordered 150 slaves to be thrown overboard.
The ship's owners, with William Gregson acting for all of them, demanded that the insurers reimburse him for the lost slaves at 30 pounds each. The first trial went in his favor. But then more information was discovered and there was a second trial, which he lost.
The author did a prodigious amount of research to piece together all of the relevant events and people involved. He goes on to explain that these trials started a movement which led first to forbidding the slave trade and then slavery in most of the
British colonies.
One quote: "William Gregson died on December 26,1800, at the age of seventy-nine. Across his five decade career, Gregson helped finance 152 slave voyages that loaded 58,201 Africans and deposited 49,053 survivors (15.7 percent mortality rate) on islands in his Caribbean."
One thing that astounded me: The judge in both trials emphasized several times that the issue was a "property loss" and not murder. I strongly recommend this book to history fans and rate it 5 stars.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#TheZorg #NetGalley

Kara works with what few records remain from the ill-fated voyage of the Zorg. While at times dry, this book discusses the horrors of the Middle Passage and the dehumanizing "economics" of chattel slavery. It doesn't read as much like a narrative as I would've liked, but I greatly appreciate Kara's attempts to personify and give the victims personal histories and names when they have been lost to time. My complaints are not with the book itself, it is with the Europeans who never thought these stories worth telling or remembering. A difficult point in history, a difficult read, but an absolute cake walk compared to living it.

First, thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book and the chance to read it before it hits shelves this fall!

I have never read anything by this author before, and I can tell you right now that will be changing. I grabbed this book because I always have a nonfiction book going that I read in the morning over coffee, and this one seemed to have a new take on the 18th century ship-faring life that seems to be all the rage lately. I’ve read 2 British naval history books in the last year or so, but both focused, unsurprisingly, on the white captain and sailors and their experiences. The fact that this one was going to take on the Atlantic slave trade was a new angle that I wanted to read.

The research - so well done and thorough. I appreciated the sporadic use of quotations from historical documents. It gave us their own words, but also didn’t leave you bogged down with old English that gets hard to understand. It was also very fun to read the author’s own curiosity causing him to search further and not just report what others had found in the past. If only we were all this curious about other human beings and their lives!

I learned so much from this book. We know what little we learned in history class, and I consider myself pretty well read, but this was still a dive into this subject that I haven’t seen before. The descriptions from the stolen Africans’ point of view, instead of just a historian looking back, was eye opening. We think we know how horrible it was. We really can’t imagine, I don’t believe. And I found myself wishing that names like Olaudah Equiano, Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce and James Ramsay were as well known as so many undeserving men whose names still dominate our history books. And assuming you don’t know who they are, I recommend reading this book. 😉

Kudos to Siddharth Kara on a book so well researched and written. Thank you!

The setting: October 1780. The Zorg, a slave ship, sets sail from the Netherlands, bound for Africa's Windward and Gold coasts. "After reaching Africa, the Zorg was captured by a privateer and came under British command. With a new captain and crew, the ship was crammed with 442 slaves and departed in 1781 for Jamaica. But a series of unpredictable weather events and mistakes in navigation left the ship drastically off course and running out of water. So a proposition was put forth: Save the crew and the most valuable of the slaves—by throwing dozens of people, starting with women and children, overboard."

"What followed was a fascinating legal drama in England’s highest court that turned the brutal calculus of slavery into front-page news. The case of the Zorg catapulted the nascent anti-slavery movement from a minor evangelical cause to one of the most consequential moral campaigns in history—sparking the abolitionist movement in both England and the young United States."

Doesn't this sound fascinating?!
Meticulously researched, and for me, beyond tedious. So horrific -- details of the slave hold, routine, heartlessness, callousness, etc. And so flat and incredibly boring. The only "life" was the "voice" [not really--imagined of a the slave [Sia] and the story of Olaudah Equiano/Gustavaus Vassa [his slave name]--who plays an interesting part in the trail at the end of the book.

No real story line [for me], just endless details of sailing and the deplorable conditions on the ship. The trial held my interest a bit more BUT too little, too late.

Would have greatly benefitted from some illustrations IMHO--maps? the ships? Even--if available--drawings of the principals?

Kudos to the extensive research but this book just didn't do it for me. AND, nonfiction doesn;t have to be boring {currently reading a very interesting nonfiction book--similar time frame but the polar opposite -- it is engaging!

IN THE DISTINCT MINORITY!! 1.5, but only rounding up because of the scholarship--archives consulted and the information provided in the many, many notes--which would have benefitted from being displayed at the bottom of the page as was difficult to navigate [and go back and forth into the text] in the ebook/format.

An intense and fascinating look at the men and the voyage that started Britain’s abolition movement and led to the end of slavery in the West. The Zorg was a tragedy, but without it, the world would be less free.

The Zorg
By Siddharth Kara

This is an historical account of a Dutch ship, engaged in the African slave trade, which was captured by the British. It is historically accurate about the horrors of that trade and the conditions which brought about the capture of the Zorg. The background information on the shipping companies and their months long voyages is interesting. However, the circumstances which afflicted the Zorg – war, weather, poor sailing? – All contributed to the ship running low on provisions and water. Finally the captain and crew massacred well over a hundred slaves in order to save the crew.

The investors made a claim against their insurance for the worth of the dead slaves. The outrage of this claim and the low value placed on the lives of the enslaved. Ultimately, the story of the Zorg was the impetus that led to the banning of slavery and the slave trade in the UK.

This book is well written, but perhaps more appropriate for those interested in the history of the time than to the average reader.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is an important story.

It is a true story that needs to be repeated and known, because it is the story of how greed drives man to do absolutely horrific things to other men. Greed under the guise of entitlement, of profit, of value, of importance to large society can turn good men, even men who were once the oppressed, into all that is bad about humanity. Rich men believe insist that only they can fund/support/define society. They are very good at convincing those who have less that it they aren’t submitting to the rich men, that instead they are part of a bigger, better picture. There is no red line that the rich and powerful won’t cross, and those they’ve made reliant on them are the ones who cross the line.

And that is what happened on The Zorg.

Men, who by choice or by force, were reliant on a wealthy slave trader murdered hundreds of African men and women in a failed attempt to ensure their own survival but also that the trader would be as wealthy as possible.

And the slave trader was so vain and self-important that he sued an insurance company in a, also failed, attempt to wring more money out of the lives of the human beings he considered no different than cattle or household goods. Those in support of slavery argued that entire cities would be devastated if the rich men weren’t allowed to continue to deal in human beings. And get richer in the process, while the vast majority of people in those slave-centric cities got poorer.

The value was in daylight.

As a second trial occurred and the true horror of the slave trade became known, people began to find the courage to speak up. Women nearly destroyed the sugar industry by refusing to use it in their cooking. The anti-slavery movement manipulated the war with Napoleon and the American Revolution to break the slave traders.

The value in this story is that yes, it is depressing that history repeats itself but, just as important, it proves that worst in man can be defeated. The richest and most powerful can be brought down. The lives it takes, the struggle, can be crushing. But they are not in vain.

This is an important story. It needs to be known.

I loved this - deeply researched, digging into the incompetence and political strife that led to a critical moment. I appreciated the primary sources and the legal aspect of things, especially poignant and interesting given how long ago this happened.

8/10

I never knew about The Zorg. I never heard of The Zorg.
I decided to read this book because I was intrigued by the subtitle - how a slave ship inspired the abolition of slavery.

I've seen documentaries about slavery. I've listened to podcasts, watched TV shows and read articles. I wouldn't say it's a top subject for me to read by any means. In fact, the last book I read about slavery was The Underground Railroad (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30555488-the-underground-railroad) - which I didn't like as much as the rest of the world apparently did.

The Zorg, however, gave me such a new insight into the slave trade, my eyes are more open to this element of it than they had been before. What I mean is that most of the slave related stuff I've read/seen, is focused on slave conditions in US plantations, as well as various other stories about the prejudice of the deep south. Rarely have I heard much about the business of capturing and transporting slaves.

It's insane.
Insanely disturbing.
Every moment of this is disturbing.

Without giving away the book, the actions that occurred on The Zorg changed the world. Literally.
I don't know why this isn't taught in school. My daughter is 12 years old and every day I would tell her more stories of the horrendous things I learned. She needs to know these things happened in our world.

This book has inspired me to find other books about the slave trade that happened in Africa and how it was born.

All I'm going to say is that if you're reading this review and you got this far into it, just stop reading my review and go read the book. You're clearly somewhat interested in the topic, and this is the book you need to read.

Thank you Siddarth Kara for the amazing research and writing!

#netgalley #thezorg

I sometimes struggle with nonfiction, but Kara did an amazing job with this book. Packed with information not typically taught, The Zorg was a thought-provoking and educational book that I recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the awful history of the slave trade.

Book: The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery
Author: Siddhartha Kara
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for sending me an ARC. I enjoyed this one a lot-maybe the word enjoy is a bit too much. I thought that this was a well-researched and well-done book. This is the type of book that will leave you with a sick feeling in your stomach, which is what the author probably wanted to do. The worst thing about this type of horror is that it is real.

In late October 1780, a slave ship called the Zorg set sail from the Netherlands, heading for Africa’s Windward and Gold Coasts to gather its human cargo. Although similar voyages were common, the horrific events that unfolded aboard the Zorg made this journey unlike any other. After reaching Africa, the Zorg was seized by a privateer and taken over by a British crew. With 442 enslaved people packed onboard, the ship set course for Jamaica. A combination of severe weather and navigational errors drove the ship far off route and left it critically low on water. In response, the crew decided to save themselves and the most "valuable" slaves by throwing dozens of people overboard, beginning with women and children. This act led to a gripping legal battle in England’s highest court. The case brought public attention to the inhuman logic of slavery and became a turning point for the growing anti-slavery movement. The Zorg case helped transform abolition from a fringe cause into one of the most powerful moral movements in history, influencing both England and the emerging United States.

This is a deeply disturbing and exceptionally well-researched account of one of the darkest episodes in the history of the transatlantic slave trade. It is a book that stays with you long after you finish reading it, not because it offers comfort or resolution, but because it confronts you with the brutal truth. This is not a story designed to entertain; it is a story meant to unsettle, to provoke, and to make readers bear witness to the cruelty that shaped so much of the modern world.
The Zorg, a Dutch slave ship that set sail in 1780, serves as the focal point for Kara’s investigation. What initially appears to be another tragic chapter in a long and horrific history becomes something even more chilling as the narrative unfolds. After being captured by a British privateer and filled with four hundred and forty-two enslaved men, women, and children, the ship veered off course due to a series of navigational mistakes and unpredictable storms. With water running dangerously low, a horrifying decision was made: to conserve resources and save the crew and what they deemed the most "valuable" slaves, dozens of people, beginning with women and children, were thrown overboard.
What makes this book so compelling is not only the unspeakable crime at its centre, but the way Kara reconstructs the events using primary sources such as court transcripts, ship logs, personal letters, and other archival documents. These materials are used with care and precision, allowing the reader to understand the motivations, justifications, and rationalisations of the perpetrators. They also give voice, as much as possible, to those who suffered and died. The inclusion of these firsthand accounts provides a sobering window into the moral vacuum that allowed such atrocities to take place under the guise of legality and economic necessity.
Kara is careful not to sensationalise the violence, but he does not shield the reader from it either. The descriptions are clear and direct, and they evoke the physical, emotional, and psychological horror of what happened aboard the Zorg. It is difficult to read at times, and that is exactly the point. This is the type of book that leaves you with a sick feeling in your stomach because the events it recounts happened. The horror is not imagined, and the lies used to justify it are clearly exposed.
One of the most powerful aspects of the book is its ability to situate the story of the Zorg within the broader movement toward abolition. The legal case that followed, brought before England’s highest court, became a pivotal moment in the history of human rights. What was initially seen as a matter of property loss turned into a public spectacle that forced the British public to confront the moral depravity of slavery. The case helped to start the abolitionist movement in both England and the United States, making it clear that this was not just an economic issue but a profound moral crisis.
While no book can ever fully capture the enormity of the slave trade’s horrors, The Zorg comes close. Kara’s ability to weave together legal history, personal testimony, and historical analysis results in a book that is both educational and emotionally devastating. He brings the past into the present, forcing readers to confront how systems of violence were built, maintained, and justified.
This is not an easy book to read, nor should it be. It is painful, necessary, and unforgettable. The Zorg is a reminder of what happens when human lives are reduced to economic units and when the powerful are allowed to act without accountability. It is a story of unimaginable cruelty, but also one that helped ignite a justice movement. Kara has written an important work that demands to be read, remembered, and reckoned with.


Overall, I thought this was a well-done historical book and one that will stick with you for a long time.

This book comes out on October 14, 2025.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/xzJeApaF4Lw

The Zorg is a narrative nonfiction account of an episode during the slave trade that so upset the general population, it is viewed as the first stroke leading to the abolition of first the slave trade and then slavery itself in the British Empire. Of course, it still took decades, but it brought it to the attention of folks outside the trade.
The Zorg was a Dutch ship. In 1780, it was captured by an English privateer and came under British command. It was loaded with 482 slaves and set sail for Jamaica. But it veered so far off course (thanks to incompetence) and provisions ran so low, that 132 slaves were thrown overboard, mostly women and children. In a case of irony, it only became well known because the owners of the slaves filed an insurance claim for the loss of their property that the insurance company refused to pay. This led to a legal trial which propelled the anti-slavery movement in both England and the US.
Kara provides a well researched, detailed account. At times, I felt the background got a little too detailed. But overall, I appreciated learning exactly how the global slave trade worked. Or didn’t. For example, I had no clue what an impact the American Revolution had on the slave trade.
This is not an easy read. Kara doesn’t give way to emotions, but the subject matter and some of the descriptions are exceedingly gruesome. But again, it’s an important read. In a time when the US government is trying to hide historical facts that might make white folks uncomfortable, it’s also a timely publication.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.