The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery

"A book of great importance and one that will likely become a classic." - New York Times Book Review. A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2025. From the Pulitzer Finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red. Perfect for fans of David Grann’s The Wager and The Wide, Wide Sea. In late October 1780, the Dutch slave ship Zorg set sail for Africa’s Windward and Gold Coasts to take on human cargo. A series of weather disasters and navigational errors forced the captain to throw more than a hundred enslaved Africans overboard to save the crew and the most profitable captives. The owners later filed an insurance claim—an unprecedented attempt involving slaves not killed by insurrection or natural causes. When insurers refused due to unusually high mortality, a trial followed in which the Chief Justice compared the slaves to horses. Outrage from one observer led to a retrial, where human rights and morality entered the courtroom for the first time. The central question: Were the Africans aboard people or cargo? What unfolded became a landmark legal drama in England’s highest court, igniting front-page debate and propelling the anti-slavery movement from obscurity to one of history’s most important moral revolutions. The Zorg reveals the astonishing true story of the ship that reshaped the global fight against slavery.

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