{"product_id":"9789083487137","title":"Black Cattle: A Gruesome Story","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eA dark, immersive journey through the brutal machinery of the Dutch and English slave trade.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA brutally realistic novel of slavery, power, and survival in seventeenth-century West Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1687. Along the West African coast, European traders, African rulers, and Moorish middlemen fight for dominance in the most brutal economy the world has ever known: the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Human lives are currency. Loyalty is fragile. Power is everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSkipper Aldemar Burghoutsz and Gillis Graauw are Dutch traders trying to live with the consequences of their past. Drawn into a world built on violence, fear, and exploitation, they face a trade where no one leaves unscathed-least of all those who believe they still have a conscience. Their journey forces them to confront betrayal, shifting alliances, deadly sea voyages, and the moral cost of survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlack Cattle offers an unflinching portrayal of the systems that fueled the slave trade. Rather than heroes and villains, the novel reveals a complex network of ambition, resistance, and complicity-European and African alike. Through vivid descriptions, historically grounded scenes, and deeply human characters, the story exposes the cold machinery of colonial power. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeticulously researched and rooted in documented historical realities, the novel immerses readers in the maritime world of seventeenth-century trade routes, coastal societies, and the economic structures that sustained early colonial expansion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a tale of good versus evil. It is a dark and immersive exploration of how ordinary people become trapped in extraordinary brutality-and how some still try to hold on to their humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraised for its emotional depth, historical accuracy, and powerful storytelling, Black Cattle is a must-read for readers who value serious historical fiction grounded in real-world history and cultural context.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBlack Cattle (original Dutch title: Kroesvee) is the first of four standalone historical novels (\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSons of Japheth Series\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e) about the Dutch and the slave trade in the 17th century. The novel is included in the literature list of the new Historical Canon of the Netherlands.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Meilink","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46433032110321,"sku":"9789083487137","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/5433\/7265\/files\/9789083487137_p0.jpg?v=1777058235","url":"https:\/\/shop.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9789083487137","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","version":"1.0","type":"link"}