Revelations of a Slave Smuggler

The Autobiography of Captain Richard Drake, an African Trader for Fifty Years from 1807 to 1857, During Which Period He Was Concerned in the Transportation of Half a Million Blacks from African Coasts to America

By: Richard Drake

Narrated by: Rodney Louis Tompkins

In 1802, Richard Drake (1790-1857) at the age of 12, joined his uncle on a slaving voyage between Benin and Brazil. It was the beginning of his 50 years’ career as a slave trader. Revelations of a Slave Smuggler, published posthumously in 1860, tells his stories including those of journeys to the interior of Africa, slave hunts, gold prospecting in West Africa, his capture by an African tribe, lion hunting, marriage to an African woman, visits with African rulers, slave markets, and the West Indies trade. Drake’s harrowing accounts of the treatment of slaves on the ships were used by abolitionists in the struggle to end slavery.

Public Domain (P)2021 Museum Audiobooks

Incredible story; awful narration and editing.

At one point the narrator literally belches, excuses himself, and continues. Lots of broken sentences with arbitrary pauses. The narrator and editor have grossly underserved this historical work.