A Bittersweet Heritage

'An important and engrossing contribution to the history of Britain's place in the global slave trade, and how it shaped our urban and rural, domestic and civic fabric. Perry successfully charts this brutal past and reminds us all of how its everyday legacies continue today.' -- Tristram Hunt, historian, former MP and Director, Victoria and Albert Museum 'This book showing how profits from Black slavery helped to transform Britain's architecture and landscapes gripped me from beginning to end. Enhanced by a lucid and accessible prose style together with many fascinating images, it most certainly deserves a very wide readership.' -- Sir Tom Devine, Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh, and editor of 'Recovering Scotland's Slavery Past: The Caribbean Connection' 'This is a scholarly and timely history of great country seats created from the profits of plantation slavery. It is a fascinating story of how the political, cultural, social and economic milieu both shaped their history and informs our present.' -- Simon Allford, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 'This book is eye-opening. From her essay in the renowned volume Slavery and the British Country House to this magnificent new study, Victoria Perry continues to illuminate the myriad--and surprising--architectural, rural and cultural legacies of Britain's slavery business.' -- Corinne Fowler, Professor of Postcolonial Literature, University of Leicester 'A captivating if uncomfortable account of the connections--strategic and individual--between the trans-Atlantic slave trade and Britain's built and natural heritage. The design ideals of this cruel historic period have been successfully buried for generations, but Perry's meticulous research and excellent storytelling bring them to new audiences.' -- Louise Thomas, Director, Historic Towns & Villages Forum