Ned Sublette says his next book The American Slave Coast grew out of his previous work.
Sublette will read from the forthcoming book Tuesday night at 7:00 in room 2028 of Western Michigan University's Brown Hall. He says a chapter about the slave trade in his book The World that Made New Orleans needed to be a book of its own.
Sublette says his book is really about economics. He says slavery in the United States worked differently than it did in most other places in the world. Sublette says "people were savings accounts," "land was worth very little without labor to work it" and "if people are money than children are interest."
Sublette says the south's commitment to chattel slavery led to a belief that a two-caste system was necessary to maintain the money.
The American Slave Coast is due to be published next year.
In addition to his reading on Tuesday, Sublette will also perform some of his music and sign books Wednesday night at the Old Dog Tavern in Kalamazoo.
