Ohio Books

This superb book studies the connection between slavery in West Africa and the British, and Quaker, firm of Cadbury, particularly in the first decade of the twentieth century.

From the 15th century, the slave trade was the foundation of the Portuguese empire. Even in the early 1900s, Angola was still a slave state, with half its people enslaved. The British Empire was an ally of Portugal, so it was complicit in the slavery. Portugal's islands of Sao Tome and Principe, 150 miles off Africa's west coast, had 40,000 slaves producing cocoa beans which Cadbury had been buying since 1886. From 1901 to 1908, Cadbury got half its beans from the islands.

A Foreign Office official noted, "The fact of the matter is that the system is neither more nor less than slavery but that we do not dare to say much as we might thus offend the Portuguese with whom we desire to stand well." In the 1900s, the British Empire was trying to recruit African labour from Portuguese Africa for its gold mines in South Africa. The Foreign Office warned against the "danger of learning inconvenient facts which might oblige us to make representations to the Portuguese Govt. which we don't want to do." So Britain, like Portugal, ignored the treaties obliging them to act to halt the slave trade. Prime Minister Lord Salisbury ordered, "Leave it alone."

In 1901, William Cadbury first heard rumours of slave labour on the islands. All the evidence that he later received confirmed that there was a brutal slave trade in Angola, that the labourers on the islands were forced, that the death rate was huge (often 20% a year), and that none was free ever to leave. Yet Cadbury did not boycott the products of slave labour until 1909.

The company claimed that discreet diplomacy, and continued purchase of Sao Tome's cocoa, would improve the workers' position. Their position, however, did not improve: 6,000 slaves died every year, though profits certainly increased, as did the number of slaves and the amount of cocoa exported.

Humanitarian pressure groups tried to get the British government to act in the labourers' interests. It responded with endless promises to press the Portuguese state to reform, and repeated investigations and commissions. This all proves the folly of relying on companies, pressure groups, treaties or governments to effect improvement. Angola and the islands used forced labour until they won independence from Portugal in 1975.

How we have progressed since then! Such outrages are long gone. Yet in 2001, the Financial Times reported, "Nestle and Cadbury were accused of turning a blind eye to child slavery in the cocoa industry." A 2002 study estimated that 284,000 children worked in West Africa's cocoa farms. Another study concluded that there were 15,000 child slaves in the Ivory Coast alone. Cadbury responded, "We were completely unaware of the allegations concerning cocoa growing in the Cote d'Ivoire." Plus ca change.

The USA spends $8.5 billion a year on chocolate products, Britain spends £4 billion, while the children who produce the chocolate toil in poverty and slavery.

This book accompanied Chris Marker's 1995 multimedia exposition at Wexner Center in 1995. It includes an introduction by center director Sherri Geldin, a descriptive essay by Bill Horrigan, and an outstanding essay by Chris Marker himself. Learn why there were no silent movies, why sex is color plus few dozen other precious ideas. This book also contains 18 full page, b&w stills from the exhibition, a catalogue of the media (video, stills, music) used in the exhibition, a Marker filmography, and a brief bibliography. Wexner Center is planning another Chris Marker exhibition in mid-2007.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Arcadia Publishing's Black America Series is worth millions. Each title in the series (currently 82 and growing) focuses on a region or theme, and is written by a local history buff with an obvious passion for their subject. Each is packed with 200 photographs depicting scenes from family, social, business, cultural, religious and political life, with narrative to place them in context. Many of the photos are from private collections and the archives of black newspapers.

The power of making visible what was formerly invisible cannot be overestimated. I have personally reviewed three titles and recommend them all: ANOTHER ANN ARBOR by Carol Gibson and Lola M. Jones, CINCINNATI by Gina Ruffin Moore, and KANSAS CITY by Delia C. Gillis.

"Cincinnati Ghosts" is for everyone who loves a good ghost story...especially REAL ONES. I've read several fictional ghost stories that spook the daylights out of me and several real life accounts that are interesting but not very spooky. Well, this book combines the first-hand actual accounts WITH all the spine tingling story telling! The end result is one great book. Ms. Laven does an excellent job of giving you all the facts and research but also keeping you on the edge of your seat. It's everything you hope for in a ghost book. Ghost-Hunters all over the nation will want to move to the tri-state area after reading it. I hope there's a sequel! WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE HOME ALONE AT NIGHT!

Compiled and organized from his pre-game radio broadcasts over the Reds Radio network by sports announcer Greg Rhodes (who is also a Reds baseball team historian and the executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum), "Cincinnati Reds Hall Of Fame Highlights" is a unique compendium of commentaries arranged in chronological order. Profusely illustrated throughout with photos and illustrations of some of the greatest players and plays in the more than 130 years of Cincinnati Reds history, Rhodes covers the team's highs and lows, including some of the grim moments, the goof escapades, and the truly glorious moments of Reds baseball. Reds fans will learn about Hall of Famer Edd Roush falling asleep in centerfield during a lengthy, heated argument between Reds manager Pat Moran and the presiding umpire (and when play resumed, Roush was ejected). Then there was the time when Reds General Manager Bob Howsam ordered his players to run for the dugout after their final out against the Yankees in the 1976 World Series to avoid a possible riot with irate New York Fans at Yankee Stadium. Simply put, Greg Rhodes' "Cincinnati Reds Hall Of Fame Highlights" is a 'must' for all dedicated Reds fans and a very highly recommended reading for all baseball fans and a core addition to academic library American Sports History reference collections.

Preserving our photographic history is important, and displaying this heritage for the public is a worthy endeavor. This book, like the other titles in this series, does a great job of showcasing my hometown, as other titles in the Images of America series also do with cities and various other subjects across America. These books are worth ten times the price and are the sort of rewarding read that almost anyone, old or young, can enjoy.

What a terrific reference book for anyone who loved Coney Island in Cincinnati as much as I did. This book is loaded with wonderful historical antidotes and detailed descriptions as well as photographs. I was especially thrilled with the large number of pictures to support the text. This book is truly a wonderful walk through the park covering its beginnings to its present day. It is a must have for any Coney Island fan.

I am a native of Northwest Ohio and I am ashamed to say that I do not know much about the history of my region. I also have never read much on the history of Civil War except on the big battles that have been written about ~~ Gettysburg and Fredericksburg and so on. I never really paid attention in school (if the teachers did even mention it) regarding the Civil War soldiers from our area.

Just by chance the other day at a festival that a little town in Ohio, Grand Rapids, hold every October, my family and I walked by this author's booth. My father bought this book. (I bought the other three books by this author because my interest in the Great Black Swamp area has been ignited by a series of newspaper articles a few years' back.)

My dad read this book in three hours. I wasn't so lucky ~~ I do have two preschoolers ~~ but I managed to read it in two days. This is a very slim volume but it is full of historical tidbits about Civil War fighters from the Northwestern Ohio. It is full of emotion as the author compiled stories from old letters and poems written during this time. It is full of pictures. Every story in this book is a complete story. It is written very concisely and beautifully ~~ each character's voice was portrayed in a vivid way. In short, this book is a testament to heroes who just happened to live in a turblent time and did the best they could in their circumstances. It is a testament to those who have marched off to war and never returned home. This book has ignited a spark of interest on my behalf on the Civil War in the Cumberland Gap and other places in Tennessee and Kentucky as Sherman marched his way to Atlanta.

If you are from Ohio ~~ even if you aren't! ~~ I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a Civil War or History buff. This book is a delightful addition to any American history student's library ~~ it is not boring (like too many history books are) and it is interesting. It is also a proud testament to the heroes from my part of the country ~~ these men are just ordinary men in extraordinary times ~~ and this book is exactly that!

10-11-05

I bought this for my husband for Valentine's Day and he loved it. We both enjoyed being nostalgic and reminiscing about our youth at some of these parks. Great gift for Clevelanders old enough to remember.

This book is great. I never knew there were this many dining choices in Cleveland. Laura adds just enough detail about each establishment that you can enjoy the history as well. New to this edition is an expansion beyond Cleveland to include other cities in Ohio.