An outstanding addition to the literature placing slaves at the center of slave history. - Choice ""An extremely valuable contribution to slavery historiography."" - Virginia Magazine ""Takagi presents a solid account of the successful adaptation of slavery to industrial labor in Virginia's capital while demonstrating how industrial employment allowed blacks to carve out a degree of autonomy that 'sowed the seeds' for slavery's potential demise."" - Mississippi Quarterly ""Until now, no scholar has undertaken a comprehensive study of slavery and freedom in [Richmond]. Fortunately, Midori Takagi's elegant and detailed study... is of such genuine excellence that no other writer need believe that the task has yet to be done right.... Exceptional."" - H-Net Reviews ""If war had not broken out in 1861 and put African-American slavery on the fast track to destruction, would it have died a natural death? Historians have debated this question for decades, and attention has focused on how adaptable slavery was to an urban environment.... To the discussions of earlier generations of historians Ms. Takagi adds substance and texture by her innovative use of local court records housed at the Library of Virginia. Court testimony reveals just how much freedom hired slaves enjoyed. While such evidence cannot prove that slavery would have died a slow death after 1860, it certainly dramatizes how slavery in Richmond differed from the stereotypical picture of African-American slavery."" - Richmond Times-Dispatch