Reviews

"Hoffer pieces the story together in a way that erases all reasonable doubt that a good many slaves were indeed 'guilty as charged.' . . . The size of this book, together with Hoffer's elegant prose and artfully crafted argument, make this study a natural for classroom use."--American Historical Review"Given the current 'war on terrorism, ' this volume is timely and deserves the widest possible audience. Highly recommended."--Choice"Peter Charles Hoffer is one of the very best historians of colonial American law. . . . This book contains a brief but excellent discussion of criminal procedure in colonial New York. It also contains a concise, illuminating account of the early years of slavery, and about how the courts of New York dealt with slaves who came before them. . . . This is a powerful narrative, powerfully told. . . . This is a fine piece of scholarship, a fine addition to the Landmark Law Cases in American Society series, and a fine contribution to American legal history. It would also be useful reading for social scientists and others concerned with what we might call social epidemics."--Law and Politics Book Review

"Did slaves and poor whites conspire to destroy New York in the summer of 1741? If you thought the case is closed, think again. Hoffer's meticulous reconsideration of the record builds convincingly toward a conclusion that is both sensible and original. A landmark study by one of our top legal historians."--Edwin G. Burrows, coauthor of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898"With sensitivity to deadly conspiracy heightened by 9/11, Hoffer deftly wraps the events of 1741 in a context packed with the tension of producing swift and sensible justice in a society bedeviled by racial and religious bigotry and by unreliable rules of evidence and procedure. . . . Provides teachers, students, and general readers quick entry to still troubling issues in American history."--Thomas J. Davis, author of A Rumor of Revolt: The "Great Negro Plot" in Colonial New York