Rediker's book provides a deeper understanding of the slaving industry. He paints the Atlantic as an exceptionally violent place. The slavery violence affected the lives of the slaves, those of the crews of the slavery vessels, and everyone involved. The book is primarily about the ships, and their crucial mechanism, and technology that was applied to the merchant trade and growth of capitalism. It provides important insight into the issues of ferrying millions of enslaved persons from Africa. It helps educate the reader on the conditions that were between the slaves and slavers. The book provokes thoughts on the immigration issues that The US struggles with today.
Rediker presents multiple perspectives on the same events. An example is the collection of Africans from the coasts of Africa, which gives a layered view of how those events unraveled for the different participants. Much of the book's discussion and evidence shows how the ships were used in their evil service. Rather than the experiences of the slaves and sailors based on what was happening around and to them. What Rediker merely touches upon is the fact that the slave trade happened because of the collaboration of the African tribal leaders and the slave merchants. He does not focus on what Africans did to promote and sustain slavery. Did Africans promote slavery for their greed and or tribal revenge? If not, would the Black slave trade have happened to the extent it did? Rediker fails to address these questions.
Rediker also recognizes the role and power of the abolitionist movement in ending the slave trade. The fact is that the white Europeans never cared about the humanity of the slaves but instead cared about the lives of the white sailors. Rediker implies that the anti-slavery movement might not have succeeded if the harsh daily life of a sailor was not part of the abolitionist propaganda story.
