New for 2025
​The Divided North traces two Maine families, one Black and one White, as they navigate the turbulent nineteenth century. The Rubys were antislavery activists; the Gordons, prominent ship masters—among them, the only American executed for participating in the transatlantic slave trade. Their experiences reveal what it meant to live in a free state during the age of slavery.
"Such an intimate portrait of nineteenth-century America’s racial politics helps us better understand what was at stake in the struggle for human freedom and dignity. It was a struggle that echoes into our own time."—Jared Ross Hardesty, author of Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds
for an interview broadcast on Maine Public.
What motivated sea captains to engage in the illegal slave trade? See my recent article, "Nathaniel Gordon: The Making of a Yankee Slave Captain" in the fall 2025 issue of Maine History.
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In bookstores now
Tens of thousands of immigrants came to New England during the 1600s. But few histories have detailed the lives of those who came by force. The Involuntary American chronicles the life and times of Thomas Doughty, an illiterate Scottish foot soldier who was captured and shipped to the New World against his will.