Real alternate history

This interview with James Lafond is fascinating.

He has written a LOT of books, and his summary of the historical non-fiction series “Plantation America” and what order they might be best read in looks useful. He expects to wrap them up with a summary and consolidation with a comprehensive narrative of the practice of white servitude / slavery / bondage in the colonies and early USA.

I’ve completed “The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: The Foundation of Our Misbegotten Nation“, and found it fascinating. Technically there are some errors (e.g., a two-page repeated passage about twenty pages apart and typos), and the style is kind of rambling, but it’s a fast and easy read with a lot of good sources cited. He does seem to have a passion for using primary sources, and a distain for secondary sources, which is nice. Well worth reading. Part of it ties in well with another book I read recently, “The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World” by Virginia Postrel. In both they use and learn from runaway slave reward posters and advertisements. LaFond learns about the races and how language was used, Postrel learns about fashion and clothing because it was often described as being part of the stolen property the runaways took.

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