It is now widely accepted that the eleven million African slave who survived the Atlantic crossing helped to transform great swathes of the Americas - but less well known is just how much the African slave trade revolutionized forever the habits and taste of the modern world. Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits explores the history of African slavery and its long term cultural legacy through an analysis of a variety of commonplace objects and commondities. Topics and themes explored include; slavery and the trade of cowrie shells; the role of maps during the slave tea, tubaccos, and sugar in the days of the Atlantic slave the human face of African slavery in portraiture, the impact of the printed word in the undermining slavery; the paradox of slavery in the emergence of a vogue for expensive items such as mahogany furniture; and many more. Illuminating and thought provoking, Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits reveals how slavery was an integral elements in the historical development of Western life - and that its legacy still surrounds us even in the most commonplace of daily objects. Book jacket.