Black Mutiny

by William A. Owens

Book Overview

Black Mutiny is the historical retelling of one of our nation's most dramatic national crises. It is one among many historical sources used in the development of the new motion picture AMISTAD.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452279356
• ISBN13: 9780452279353
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A historical retelling of the true story of 53 illegally enslaved

Heard BLACK MUTINY, a novel written by William Owens in 1953 . . . it is a historical retelling of the true story of 53 illegally enslaved African who revolted against their captors . . . when their ship was intercepted and seized by the United States Navy, they were forced to stand trial for mutiny and murder in a case that reached the Supreme Court. If any of this sounds familiar, it is because you may have seen ARMISTAD, a movie that was based on Owen's book . . . I found the tale a fascinating one; however, its execution left me wanting something more--perhaps a non-fiction account. It was difficult to discern what exactly was fact and what was fiction . . . in fact, after listening, I then went online to research what actually happened. Yet that said, BLACK MUTINY did make me more fully appreciate the many Americans who did stand up to oppose slavery before it was abolished . . . and, also, made me realize that there were far too many others who stood by and did nothing.

Well written historical fiction of Cinque and the Amistad

Black Mutiny is a well-written, highly interesting account of the events surrounding the Amistad. It is an excellent companion piece to Spielburg's movie, AMISTAD (this is the book on which the movie was based). The reader should be cautioned, however, that this book is a work of historical fiction. It is not a scholarly account of events, albeit an interesting and -- most probably -- factual one. For me personally this did not detract from the book. But then I am only an amateur historian and enjoy historical fiction if it is done well and does not embellish extensively, and Owens did not. Nevertheless, if the reader is expecting a footnoted text, then this is not the book for you. William Ownes, the late folklorist and English professor, wrote "Black Mutiny" in 1953. To make the book more appealing to today's market, two brief essays by black activists/historians have been added. I recommend not reading either essay until after reading the text, or possibly not reading them at all. They add nothing to Owens' story of Cinque and the Amistad and both essays are bigoted, racially charged and are of interest to only a select audience.