In this paradigm-shifting book, celebrated historian Tiya Miles reveals that slavery was at the heart of the Midwest's iconic city: Detroit. Miles has pieced together the experience of the unfree - both native and African American - in the frontier outpost of Detroit, a place wildly remote yet at the centre of national and international conflict. The result is fascinating history, little-explored and eloquently told, of the limits of freedom in early America, one that adds new layers of complexity that completely change our understanding of slavery's American legacy.

Author Biography

Tiya Miles is the recipient of a 2011 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," and is an award-winning historian and former chair of the Department of Afroamerican and African studies at the University of Michigan. She lives in Ann Arbor.