The Queen’s Slave Trader: John Hawkyns, Elizabeth

The Queen's Slave Trader tells the story of England's first incursions into a horrific commercial enterprise it would come to dominate. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, John Hawkyns led three voyages to West Africa. With royal approval, hundreds of Africans were abducted and carried across the Atlantic, where they were sold in colonies along the Spanish Main and the West Indies.

Hawkyns's slave trading days were brought to an end when his ships were destroyed by the Spanish, but he had set in motion an industry that would ultimately cause the suffering and death of millions for the sake of profit. Nick Hazlewood's gripping, meticulously researched account of the life of Hawkyns is a compelling and unforgettable depiction of the birth of this shameful chapter in history.

Nick Hazlewood has a degree in history and in 1994 he left his job with the trade union UNISON to go travelling throughout South and Central America. He is a freelance journalist and writer and lives in North London.

"[An] impressively researched and disturbing biography ... Brilliantly evocative of 16th century Anglo-Spanish rivalry and the brutality of Elizabethan maritime life, Hazlewood's book is a tour-de-force that condemns rather than romanticizes its thuggish adventurer." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

--Kirkus Reviews