A History of the Fedon Rebellion - (Encounters with Empire) by Kit Candlin (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In 1795, an attempted revolution in the British colony of Grenada took place, led by the enigmatic Julien Fédon. While ultimately unsuccessful, this bloody uprising shifted the balance of power in the Caribbean and fundamentally changed the way the British crown ran its colonies. But what might have happened had Fédon's rebellion played out differently, with a more consistent message on enslaved emancipation and mixed-race empowerment?

In this compelling new book, historian Kit Candlin tells the captivating story of the rebellion in Grenada, full of secret plans and clandestine meetings, frayed nerves and paranoia, in a highly unstable, interconnected world. Its protagonists form a diverse collection of transient adventurers, itinerant planters, free people of colour and the enslaved - the flotsam of one of the most polyglot, contested and liminal places in the Atlantic World.

While not as well known as its Haitian counterpart, the Grenadian revolution played a crucial role in shaping the British Empire, and understanding its history brings further nuance and context to the bitter legacy of colonialism in the region. Candlin's rich tale of what happened - and what might have been - is not to be missed by anyone interested in the Caribbean in the Age of Revolution.

Review Quotes

"With the verve of a novelist, Kit Candlin reconstructs the most devastating uprising in British Caribbean history, showing how revolution and religion combined to produce a grinding conflict that cost the lives of thousands, almost all of them enslaved. This is a tragic history that brilliantly illustrates the human impact of the Age of Revolution in the Caribbean."
Nick Radburn, University of Lancaster

"Kit Candlin transforms the sparse historical record of the Fédon rebellion into a gripping narrative. He vividly reconstructs how this upheaval threw Europeans, free people of colour and enslaved people into shifting, unexpected alliances, capturing the drama and volatility of a cataclysmic moment."
Marjoleine Kars, MIT

"A riveting and meticulously researched history. Kit Candlin takes us into the worlds of both those who fought for freedom and those who wanted to maintain slavery in Grenada in the 1790s, helping readers understand the full complexity of an attempted revolution which has long needed the full attention of a historian."
Diana Paton, University of Edinburgh

"Candlin establishes a little-known revolt on the island of Grenada as one of the most important uprisings involving enslaved people in the Americas. His engrossing tale sheds new light on the Haitian Revolution by exposing that more famous revolt as uniquely successful but far from isolated. Candlin's nuanced account belies descriptions of such revolutions as mere slave revolts: free and enslaved people played vital roles on both sides, while divisions between monarchists and republicans, francophones and anglophones, also shaped and complicated the conflict."
Gregory E. O'Malley, University of California, Santa Cruz

About the Author