Dismal Freedom by J. Brent Morris

 This is a book about a topic that was not familiar to me, not I daresay it would be familiar to the general population  not close to the places in the book. Throughout learning about slavery and how the enslaved escaped to freedom, I never learned about the existence of this swamp and how so many enslaved people managed to escape and live in this huge swamp. 

One thing that I found particularly interesting was the explanation and discussion of the different layers and types of maroonage that existed within the swamp. The way that the different layers of maroonage co-existed and worked with each other to survive was incredible to read about. 

Perhaps the most documented types of marooners in the book were the ones that marooned and stayed along the edges and outskirts of the swamp either to use it as a passageway to freedom in the North or because their families were still enslaved and they wanted to stay nearer to them. 

But some marooners that there is still not much known about even now are the deep marooners that made it to some of the deepest parts of the Dismal Swamp and then never left. These people created isolated communities that thrived deep in the swamp and archeologists are still studying today. 

There is no part of history that is too small to learn about and this is a part of history that should really be talked about and taught more. 

This book will be released in July of 2022

I received this book free from NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press to review and this is my honest review. 

Five out of five stars