Closer to Freedom

“Deepens our understanding of resistance as both an individual and collective endeavor. [Camp] argues forcefully. . . . Intriguing and interesting.”—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

“Wonderfully evocative. . . . A provocative book full of astonishing, sometimes unforgettable moments.”—Virginia Magazine

“Very readable yet analytically sophisticated. . . . Camp seamlessly integrates a wide array of sources . . . into an engaging book that does more than recount women’s experiences as slaves in the plantation South. . . . An excellent study of bondwomen and a penetrating look at the rival geographies created by enslaved people.”—Journal of Southern History

“An appealing and creative approach to understanding everyday slave resistance.”—Southern Historian

“This slim volume makes a substantial and often ingenious contribution to slavery studies and to women’s and southern history. Taking pleasure seriously, studying space without getting trapped in the ‘public versus private’ debate, finding new information in much-mined sources, and complicating our knowledge of enslaved women’s resistance are valuable in themselves. They are also potent hints at what Camp and those who follow her lead will accomplish in the coming years.”—American Historical Review

“Camp’s creative and elegant work reinforces the interconnectedness of North and South, slave and free, in the lives of enslaved people.”—Signs

“Through the lens of geography, Camp successfully introduces a new language to describe and interpret everyday resistance among enslaved women and men. Scholars interested in a different approach to this important topic will find Closer to Freedom refreshing.”—Civil War History

“This elegant and often profound monograph casts a fresh eye on the daily acts of self-preservation and disguised defiance that historians of slavery have called ‘everyday resistance.’ . . . Illuminating both the texture of enslaved women’s lives and the concept of everyday resistance,Closer to Freedom is both a welcome teaching text and an accessible study for general readers.”—North Carolina Historical Review

“The book is well written throughout, and Camp really does seem to get inside the minds of enslaved women. . . . This is a promising first book and an interesting and innovative addition to the historiography of the lives of the enslaved.”—Georgia Historical Quarterly

“Camp has written a provocative book full of astonishing, sometimes unforgettable moments. Moreover, she has raised important questions about the way slave women resisted their owners. Ultimately no one will be able to answer the questions that Camp asks without coming to grips with the world she describes.”—Virginia Magazine of History and Biography