White gold : the extraordinary story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's one million white slaves Cover Image

White gold : the extraordinary story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's one million white slaves / Giles Milton.

Summary:

This book reveals a disturbing and long forgotten chapter of history. In 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and 51 comrades were captured at sea by the Barbary corsairs. Their captors--a network of Muslim slave traders--had declared war on Christendom. Thousands had been snatched from their homes in France, Spain, England and Italy and taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Sal ǐn Morocco. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco, who was constructing a palace of such grandeur that it would surpass every other building in the world, built entirely by Christian slave labor. Resourceful, resilient, and quick-thinking, Pellow was selected by the sultan for special treatment, and was one of the fortunate few who survived to tell his tale.--From publisher description.

Record details

ISBN: 0374289352
ISBN: 9780374289355
Physical Description: xii, 316 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Edition: First American edition
Publisher: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2004]
Copyright: ©2004

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-304) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Map of Morocco xiii -- Map of the Mediterranean xv -- 1 A New and Deadly Foe 11 -- 2 Sultan of Slaves 32 -- 3 Seized at Sea 53 -- 4 Pellow's Torments 75 -- 5 Into the Slave Pen 93 -- 6 Guarding the Concubines 111 -- 7 Rebels in the High Atlas 132 -- 8 Turning Turk 158 -- 9 At the Court of Moulay Ismail 173 -- 10 Escape or Death 197 -- 11 Blood Rivals 217 -- 12 Long Route Home 242.