War and Slavery in Sudan

Author Jok Madut Jok does a a fine job of revealing the historical roots of the slave trade in Sudan in his book, WAR AND SLAVERY IN SUDAN. He makes the exact same point that I do in my book, JIHAD: The Mahdi Rebellion in the Sudan (2003), that the modern Civil Wars between the North and the South can be traced back to the 19th century when Britain moved her forces into the region to establish commercial control of the Eastern Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. Slavery had been an institution in this area for hundreds of years, particularly in the provinces of Darfur and Kordofan; and especially in the region of the Bahr al-Ghazal, the old slave-trading station. For centuries, as Jok points, the Northern Arabs considered the Southern inhabitants as inferior and therefore, to be relegated to menial tasks and jobs. Their lands were called the "Bilad al-Sudan or "Land of the African." This racial and tribal warfare has persisted until well into the 20th century. Even now, at the dawn of the 21st century, this sociological and historical phenomenon manifests itself openly before the world. The Genocide taking place in Sudan today is a reminder that "old attitudes" and prejudices die hard. Mr. Jok's book, WAR AND SLAVERY IN SUDAN is a much-needed volume in a world that needs vast humanitarian change. Highly-rated! Murray S. Fradin, Author of JIHAD: THE MAHDI REBELLION IN THE SUDAN

This wonderful account blends modern day events with the burden of the past to explain the ongoing genocide in the Sudan and the issue of race and slavery in the conflict. Here we learn not only of the roots of Slavery in the Sudan where the Arab Muslim north has been enslaving the African south for more then a thousand years but we also learn of the role of race in the conflict as well as the more interesting role of the English in denying slavery. One chapter in particular shows how the English, sent to abolish slavery, actually upheld it by reclassifying household slaves as 'domestic servants'. Thus slavery was never legally abolished in the Sudan the way it was in Egypt and the Ottoman empire. Rather the average person today in the Sudan sees nothing morally wrong with owning slaves or raping slave girls. This book is an impassioned plea to the world to wake up to the reality of the Sudanese genocide, the racist fascist civil war that has gone on for 40 years. Yet one knows the track record of the world, of humanity, when it comes to stopping genocide. That record is 0-4(Rwanda, Cambodia, The Holocaust, the Sudan). In fact the Sudan was recently picked by the U.N to head the human rights commission. This is why books like this are so important, to perhaps help one ignorant person realize that horror, genocide, slavery and racism are not just what one reads in the history books, rather they are happening today and have a burden of history attached to them. An important book, the best book on the Sudanese civil war. Seth J. Frantzman

...Of the half-dozen books I've read on Sudan, this is my favorite. Although it is not a general work on the country, it does focus on two of its most well-known issues: the ongoing civil war and slavery.Jok Madut Jok is a South Sudanese historian based in the United States. His educational background and interviews with countless South Sudanese about their experiences with Arab slave raids makes this a scholarly book, while his perspective as a South Sudanese gives it an edge not usually associated with scholarship. He clearly is pained by what is happening in Sudan, and does not attempt to give a balanced account here. But whatever the book loses in objectivity, it more than makes up for in passion."War and Slavery in Sudan" is well-written and its concepts clear -- with one major exception. I'm unsure what the author means when he talks about the role racism plays in the conflict and how racial ideology is the foundation of the slave trade in Sudan. He appears to mean that the cultural arrogance of the Arabs in the north -- many of whom are black -- allows them to enslave and make war against some of the non-Muslim tribes in the south, but I'm not entirely clear on this point. Despite this major lapse, however, this is still an excellent book for anyone interested in Sudan.