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The hated cage : an American tragedy in Britain's most terrifying prison / Nicholas Guyatt.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Basic Books, 2022Edition: First editionDescription: vii, 419 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781541645660
  • 1541645669
Subject(s):
Contents:
Part I. King Dick at Vienna. A Seafaring Life ; Getting Clear ; Spare the Vanquished ; Among the Romans -- Part II. King Dick at Bordeaux. The Unhallowed Pursuit ; Mister Beastly ; Extreme Necessity ; A World in Miniature -- Part III. King Dick at Dartmoor. Prison Four ; Hope Deferred ; The Dead House ; Going Home -- Part IV. King Dick at Boston. Remembering and Forgetting ; The Two Massacres.
Summary: "The formidable Dartmoor Prison was the first permanent facility for prisoners of war on British soil. Known as the 'hated cage,' American captives--Black and white--from the War of 1812 languished in it for years, even after the war ended, stewing in frustration and rage. Although the prisoners had been racially integrated as sailors on American naval ships, Dartmoor became deeply segregated, like the United States itself. Then, on April 6, 1815, a minor flashpoint between the prisoners and the guards turned into a massacre, as guards opened fire. Nine Americans were killed, and dozens injured. It was the last time Britons intentionally killed Americans in a war--and it also led to the prisoners developing a shared national identity that began to trump their racial differences. The Hated Cage provides astonishing insight into the War of 1812, a conflict which proved embarrassing to both sides, by illuminating the tensions between a massive power with a foothold still in the Americas and the upstart nation desperate for true sovereignty. Celebrated historian Nicholas Guyatt brings to vivid life the forgotten story of how these prisoners came into British custody and of how they negotiated and renegotiated their racial identities as they faced a common enemy. Drawing on extensive material from archives in Britain and the United States, The Hated Cage reveals how, in unlikely and dire circumstances, the men trapped within Dartmoor came together to chart a new sense of themselves--as Americans"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 973.527 G987 Available 33111010818405
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A leading historian reveals the never-before-told story of a doomed British prison and the massacre of its American prisoners of war

After the War of 1812, more than five thousand American sailors were marooned in Dartmoor Prison on a barren English plain; the conflict was over but they had been left to rot by their government. Although they shared a common nationality, the men were divided by race: nearly a thousand were Black, and at the behest of the white prisoners, Dartmoor became the first racially segregated prison in US history.

The Hated Cage documents the extraordinary but separate communities these men built within the prison--and the terrible massacre of nine Americans by prison guards that destroyed these worlds. As white people in the United States debated whether they could live alongside African Americans in freedom, could Dartmoor's Black and white Americans band together in captivity? Drawing on extensive new material, The Hated Cage is a gripping account of this forgotten history.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. King Dick at Vienna. A Seafaring Life ; Getting Clear ; Spare the Vanquished ; Among the Romans -- Part II. King Dick at Bordeaux. The Unhallowed Pursuit ; Mister Beastly ; Extreme Necessity ; A World in Miniature -- Part III. King Dick at Dartmoor. Prison Four ; Hope Deferred ; The Dead House ; Going Home -- Part IV. King Dick at Boston. Remembering and Forgetting ; The Two Massacres.

"The formidable Dartmoor Prison was the first permanent facility for prisoners of war on British soil. Known as the 'hated cage,' American captives--Black and white--from the War of 1812 languished in it for years, even after the war ended, stewing in frustration and rage. Although the prisoners had been racially integrated as sailors on American naval ships, Dartmoor became deeply segregated, like the United States itself. Then, on April 6, 1815, a minor flashpoint between the prisoners and the guards turned into a massacre, as guards opened fire. Nine Americans were killed, and dozens injured. It was the last time Britons intentionally killed Americans in a war--and it also led to the prisoners developing a shared national identity that began to trump their racial differences. The Hated Cage provides astonishing insight into the War of 1812, a conflict which proved embarrassing to both sides, by illuminating the tensions between a massive power with a foothold still in the Americas and the upstart nation desperate for true sovereignty. Celebrated historian Nicholas Guyatt brings to vivid life the forgotten story of how these prisoners came into British custody and of how they negotiated and renegotiated their racial identities as they faced a common enemy. Drawing on extensive material from archives in Britain and the United States, The Hated Cage reveals how, in unlikely and dire circumstances, the men trapped within Dartmoor came together to chart a new sense of themselves--as Americans"-- Provided by publisher.

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