In 1787, at a printing shop in London, a group of citizens met with the goal of ending the all-powerful slave trade in the British Empire. They were the first abolitionists, taking on a seemingly impossible task.

But twenty years later, Britain banned the slave trade, and in the 1830s, slavery in the British Empire ended, long before it did in the United States. Today, the movement is still one of history’s greatest grassroots human rights campaigns.

In his new book “Bury the Chains,” Adam Hochschild, award-winning author of “King Leophold’s Ghost,” tells the story of these ordinary Englishmen who did the extraordinary and freed thousands of slaves around the world.

Tune in to hear a conversation with Hochschild about the fight to end slavery in the British Empire as portrayed in his new book.

Guests:

Adam Hochschild, author of “Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves.”;
Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor of the Atlantic Monthly