White gold : the extraordinary story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's one million white slaves

The true story of white European slaves in eighteenth century Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco In the summer of 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and fifty-one of his comrades were captured at sea by the Barbary corsairs. Their captors--Ali Hakem and his network of Islamic slave traders--had declared war on the whole of Christendom. France, Spain, England and Italy had suffered a series of devastating attacks. Thousands of Europeans had been snatched from their homes and taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Salé in Morocco. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco, Moulay Ismail, who was constructing an imperial palace of such scale and grandeur that it would surpass every other building in the world, a palace built entirely by Christian slave labor. Resourceful, resilient, and quick-thinking, Pellow was selected by Moulay Ismail for special treatment, and was one of the fortunate few who survived to tell his tale. An extraordinary and shocking story, drawn from unpublished letters and manuscripts written by slaves and by the padres and ambassadors sent to free them, White Gold reveals a disturbing and long forgotten chapter of history. This book reveals a disturbing and long forgotten chapter of history. In 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and 51 comrades were captured at sea by the Barbary corsairs. Their captors--a network of Muslim slave traders--had declared war on Christendom. Thousands had been snatched from their homes in France, Spain, England and Italy and taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Sal ̌in Morocco. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco, who was constructing a palace of such grandeur that it would surpass every other building in the world, built entirely by Christian slave labor. Resourceful, resilient, and quick-thinking, Pellow was selected by the sultan for special treatment, and was one of the fortunate few who survived to tell his tale.--From publisher description

Giles Milton's White Gold tells the true story of white European slaves in eighteenth century Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco.

"An elegantly discursive retelling . . . customarily elegant prose." --Simon Winchester, The Boston Globe

In the summer of 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and fifty-one of his comrades were captured at sea by Barbary corsairs. Their captors--Ali Hakem and his network of Islamic slave traders--had declared war on the whole of Christendom. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco. Drawn from the unpublished letters and manuscripts of Pellow and survivors like him, Giles Milton's White Gold is a fascinating glimpse at a time long forgotten by history.

Giles Milton's White Gold tells the true story of white European slaves in eighteenth century Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco. "An elegantly discursive retelling . . . customarily elegant prose." —Simon Winchester, The Boston Globe In the summer of 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and fifty-one of his comrades were captured at sea by Barbary corsairs. Their captors—Ali Hakem and his network of Islamic slave traders—had declared war on the whole of Christendom. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco. Drawn from the unpublished letters and manuscripts of Pellow and survivors like him, Giles Milton's White Gold is a fascinating glimpse at a time long forgotten by history. Title Page PROLOGUE 1 - A NEW AND DEADLY FOE 2 - SULTAN OF SLAVES 3 - SEIZED AT SEA 4 - PELLOW’S TORMENTS 5 - INTO THE SLAVE PEN 6 - GUARDING THE CONCUBINES 7 - REBELS IN THE HIGH ATLAS 8 - TURNING TURK 9 - AT THE COURT OF MOULAY ISMAIL 10 - ESCAPE OR DEATH 11 - BLOOD RIVALS 12 - LONG ROUTE HOME EPILOGUE Also by Giles Milton About the Author NOTES AND SOURCES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX ILLUSTRATION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Copyright Page Presents the history of European slaves in eighteenth-century Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco, following the story of Thomas Pellow, a young cabin boy, and his fellow crewmembers, who were captured at sea in 1716 by Barbary pirates