11/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—This series explains the many ways that trade routes were primary conduits of culture and trade. Some variations in topics exist, but all the books describe the origins, evolution, and eventual decline or contemporary status of each path and the major players, including people, groups, and nations involved. The authors discuss who and what was transported and the positive and negative impacts, including deadly outbreaks of disease, military conquest, and human exploitation. Transatlantic Slave Networks tends to handle its material clumsily, using slaves rather than enslaved people and providing little geographic information in relation to Africa other than "Africa" or the "coast of Africa." Furthermore, in a discussion about the legacies of chattel slavery, the author states,"No one argues over who the biggest losers were." The images throughout the series are decidedly average, and the maps are generally inadequate in quantity and quality. VERDICT Avoid Transatlantic Slave Networks, and select others as needed.
