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Marcus Rediker: History from below

Rebels, pirates, and fearless revolutionaries!

Verso Books18 March 2026

Marcus Rediker: History from below

The histories Marcus Rediker explores are grounded in the radical and courageous acts of those who remain largely unknown to us— poor people with calloused hands, often nameless in the historical record and therefore unremembered, the wretched of the earth. Theirs is a history from below.

In Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea, Rediker recovers the voices of the workers who freed themselves and altered the trajectory of history.

Out now: Freedom Ship

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More from Marcus Rediker

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  • Under the Banner of King Death
    Under the Banner of King Death is a tale of mutiny, bloody battle, and social revolution, bringing to life an itinerant community of outsiders behind today’s legends. This graphic novel breaks new ...
    Paperback
  • Outlaws of the Atlantic
    Outlaws of the Atlantic turns maritime history upside down, exploring the dramatic world of seafaring adventure, not from the perspective of admirals, merchants and other builders of empire, but ra...
    Hardback
  • The Amistad Rebellion
    On 28 June 1839, the Spanish slave schooner La Amistad set sail from Havana to make a routine delivery of human cargo. After four days at sea, on a moonless night, the captive Africans that compr...
    Hardback

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