The Zorg

bySiddharth Kara

A Tale of Greed, Murder and the Abolition of Slavery

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From the New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red, discover the gripping and horrifying true story of the eighteenth century slave ship often referred to as Zong yet actually called Zorg - ironically meaning 'care' - that sparked the campaign that led to the end the Atlantic slave trade.

Perfect for fans of David Grann’s The Wager and The Wide, Wide Sea by Hampton Sides.


‘Remarkable, riveting’, Adam Hochschild, historian and bestselling author of King Leopold's Ghost and Bury the Chains

In 1781, the Zorg set off from The Netherlands to West Africa and from there onto the Caribbean. By the time its journey ended, the Zorg would become the first undeniable argument against slavery.

When a series of unpredictable weather events, disease and navigational errors led to the Zorg sailing off course and running low on supplies, the crew's solution was to throw more than a hundred slaves overboard in order to save themselves and the most valuable slaves. The ship's owners then claimed their loss on insurance.

The insurers refusal to pay led to a trial which initially found in their favour, likening the slaves to horses. Thanks to the outrage of one man present in court that day, expressed in an article in the press, a retrial was held where, for the first time, a simple yet profound question was asked: were the Africans on board people or cargo?

The case catapulted the emerging anti-slavery movement to one of the most consequential moral campaigns that ultimately changed the course of history.

The Zorg is the astonishing true story of one of the most consequential ships that ever crossed the Atlantic by leading to the abolition of slavery.

Kara’s book reads like a thriller, narrative nonfiction at its finest.

Time Magazine, Must Read Books of 2025

About Siddharth Kara

Siddharth Kara is an author, researcher, and activist on modern slavery. Kara has written several books and reports on slavery and child labour, most recently the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Cobalt Red. Kara also won the Frederick Douglass Book Prize. He has lectured at Harvard University and held a professorship at the University of Nottingham. He divides his time between Los Angeles and London.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781804997925
  • Length: 336 pages
  • Price: £10.99
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