Afua Cooper

New light is shed on the largely misunderstood or ignored history of slavery in Canada through this portrait of slave Marie-Joseph Angelique, who in 1734 was arrested, tried, convicted, and executed for starting a fire that destroyed more than forty Montreal buildings. Simultaneous.

The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal

The Hanging of Angélique

Stark Koenig

This books offers the beginning of a remedy to the myth of Canada as we are taught it in schools: a country free of racism and without a history of slavery, which compares itself favourably to its southern neighbours. Cooper's thoroughly researched work demonstrates that Canada's European history is steeped in colonial violence, slavery, and the horror of human trafficking. It also gives us a glimpse of a human being who fought the constraints of that colonial violence. Although little is known of Marie-Joseph Angélique's early life, Cooper has put together a detailed history to offer a chronicle of her life, fleshed out by plausible conjecture. All in all a must read for Canadians. The story of Marie-Joseph Angélique and of slavery in early Canada should be a mandatory part of Canadian education.

Caitlin Berger

What an important book. Essential reading.

The Hanging of Angélique The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal

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