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Marcus Rediker is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh. His “histories from below,” including The Slave Ship: A Human History, have won numerous awards, including the George Washington Book Prize, and have been translated into seventeen languages worldwide. He has produced a film, Ghosts of Amistad, with director Tony Buba, and written a play, “The Return of Benjamin Lay,” with playwright Naomi Wallace. He is currently writing a book about escaping slavery by sea in antebellum America.

Books and Other Writings

 

Under the Banner of King Death book cover by Marcus Rediker

Under the Banner of King Death

Pirates of the Atlantic, A Graphic Novel

by David Lester and Marcus Rediker, with Paul Buhle. A tale of mutiny, bloody battle, and social revolution, Under the Banner of King Death novelizes for the first time the real pirates, an itinerant community of outsiders, behind our legends.
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Book cover of Prophet Against Slavery by Marcus Rediker

Prophet Against Slavery
Benjamin Lay, A Graphic Novel

by David Lester, Marcus Rediker, and Paul Buhle
The revolutionary life of an 18th-century dwarf activist who was among the first to fight against slavery and animal cruelty. An action-packed chronicle of the remarkable and radical Benjamin Lay.
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Book cover of A Global History of Runaways by Marcus Rediker

A Global History of Runaways
Workers, Mobility, and Capitalism, 1600–1850

ed. by Marcus Rediker, Titas Chakraborty, and Matthias van Rossum
During global capitalism's long ascent from 1600–1850, workers of all kinds—slaves, indentured servants, convicts, domestic workers, soldiers, and sailors—repeatedly ran away from their masters and bosses, with profound effects.
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Marcus Rediker @MarcusRediker ·
15 Nov 1857391958987035072

Happy to say that our book, *Prophet against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, A Graphic Novel*, translated and published by @daziwonM in Seoul, South Korea, has been named one of the best graphic novels in Korea for the year 2024. @lestermecca @gpatnaik1 @NetiwitC

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Glucksman Ireland House NYU @GIHNYU ·
14 Nov 1857093006056132818

Black, Brown and Green Voices returns 11/19! Ft. Marcus Rediker and David Lester on their graphic novel, "Revolution by Fire: New York's Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741."

Presented by @aaidnetwork @SchomburgCenter @BrademasCenter @NYUGallatin @NYUOGI

https://bit.ly/4hMp3mk

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Marcus Rediker @MarcusRediker ·
12 Nov 1856383844695306616

Publication day! Our book *Revolution by Fire: New York's Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741* (@BeaconPressBks) is available! By @lestermecca, Paul Buhle, and me -- our third graphic novel.
https://www.beacon.org/Revolution-by-Fire-P2111.aspx

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Marcus Rediker @MarcusRediker ·
11 Nov 1856036103268053315

I gave a talk last week about David Graeber's essay, "There Never Was a West," through the David Graeber Institute (@Graeber_social). Here is the video.
@davidgraeber @nikadubrovsky

Twitter feed video.
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Marcus Rediker @MarcusRediker ·
2 Jan 2023 1609899574893707264

Calling all teachers! If you are teaching a unit on the slave trade or slavery this spring, please consider my freely available 56-minute documentary, *Ghosts of Amistad* about the slave ship revolt of 1839 and its memory in contemporary Sierra Leone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUCPo0DSstY

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David Graeber Institute @Graeber_social ·
3 Nov 1853071184159457432

On Thursday we host a zoom talk to debate and discuss David Graeber's work - with a focus on his idea of "There Never Was A West."

The author, @MarcusRediker will join us. If you'd yourself like to join, you can register at this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdO2spzsuGNTYltSL58dtIQF0RPqfLIOH#/registration

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Democracy At Work @democracyatwrk ·
3 Nov 1852865752228868196

What are you reading this weekend? We at @democracyatwrk are reading The Many-Headed Hydra by Peter Linebaugh and @MarcusRediker! Support @versobooks at this time! #solidarity #history #anticapitalism #historyfrombelow #democracyatwork #educate #agitate #organize ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿🚩

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New Play, “The Return of Benjamin Lay”

"The Return of Benjamin Lay," a play by Marcus Rediker, promotional graphic"The Return of Benjamin Lay," a play by Marcus Rediker, promotional graphic

Written by Marcus Rediker and Naomi Wallace, world premiere at the Finborough Theatre, London, June 13–July 8, 2023

Featuring acclaimed American actor Mark Povinelli and directed by RSC Honorary Associate Director Ron Daniels, “The Return of Benjamin Lay” sweeps across the centuries in a bold exploration of an utterly impossible man.

Info

Ghosts of Amistad Film Website

Screen shot of the Ghosts of Amistad documentary website
Ghosts of Amistad Film now FREE
Full-length film online in English with subtitled versions in French, Italian and Spanish

Ghosts of Amistad chronicles a trip to Sierra Leone to visit the home villages of the people who seized the slave schooner Amistad in 1839, to interview elders about local memory of the case, and to search for the long-lost ruins of Lomboko, the slave trading factory where their cruel transatlantic voyage began. The documentary film’s new website includes numerous resources, including study guides, to support educators around this topic.

Visit Site Study Guides

Ghosts of Amistad award laurels