Honored to learn that my book *Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea* has been selected as one of the best books of 2025 by #slaveryarchive. www.slaveryarchive.com/10-best-book...

Last night I saw the women’s volleyball team at the U. of Pittsburgh advance to the NCAA final four for the fifth consecutive year — sport excellence at the highest level! Here below, all-ACC setter Brooke Mosher hits a rocket jump serve to secure the win in set four against Purdue. Thrilling!

No one captured the sadness of working-class life like John Prine. Here are lyrics from his song “Souvenirs.” I hate graveyards and old pawn shops For they always bring me tears I can't forgive the way they robbed me Of my childhood souvenirs www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOTb...

David Lester, Paul Buhle, and I have created 4 graphic novels, all histories from below, published in the US by @beaconpress.bsky.social. They've been translated into Basque, Catalán, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Spanish, and Thai. We are looking for new translations. Any editors/presses to suggest?

A happy blast from the past: Friday night, I saw my former student and Pitt basketball great Jaron Brown at the Pitt game. Jaron was a key part of the “golden age” of Pitt basketball in the early 2000s – and the only player in the country who could cover Carmelo Anthony!

Delighted to say that our play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, has received its first translation and republication, in Thai, thanks to Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and Sam Yan Press. My co-author Naomi Wallace and I fondly hope the play will be performed in Bangkok someday.

Check out this timely book! “Three cheers for this joyful, highly original engagement with our dark times; for its poetic ability to see beauty amid the wreckage; and perhaps most of all for its intellectual daring, all in the service of precious, stubborn hope.” www.bloomsbury.com/us/hopeful-p...

Honored to learn that the esteemed *Library Journal* has named *Freedom Ship* one of the best books of 2025.

Here is a poster of the new Basque edition of our book, *Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, A Graphic Novel* (with David Lester and Paul Buhle), at the Basque Music and Book Fair in Durango. This is the seventh language in which the book has appeared.

Proud to say, my former PhD student Jack Bouchard, now at Rutgers University, has published an outstanding new work in Atlantic history: *Terra Nova: Food, Water, and Work in an Early Atlantic World*, with Yale University Press. Congratulations, Jack! yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

A review of my book *Freedom Ship*, by Dave Bell for *Hidden City* (Phila.'s history). He calls the book "a ground-breaking, deeply researched, fascinating look into the long-neglected role of the maritime trade in enabling countless runaways to achieve freedom." hiddencityphila.org/2025/11/sail...

Cinquième tirage en poche de Pirates de tous les pays, de Marcus Rediker. En vérifiant les tirages, on constate que la première édition, en grand format, a paru fin novembre 2008, il y a… dix-sept ans. On est encore là. Et ce livre, loué ou critiqué, est devenu un classique.

Here is a review I wrote of Sven Beckert’s impressive new book, *Capitalism: A Global History*, for the New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/b...

Grateful to @leehall.bsky.social for this account of the launch of our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin* (PM Press), at the Abington Quaker Meeting House Nov. 11. Lee writes with passion, grace, and power, explaining why children need to know Lay's story. www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/25/f...

Highest respect to the late Jimmy Cliff & the Jamaican Rebel Music he sang as reggae became the world's most radical music. I saw him in 1978 in a small club in Philadelphia. When he sang, “But I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave,” the house came down. RIP, Jimmy.

It was a great pleasure to work with Sarah Bachman (artist, at left) and Michelle Markel (co-author, center) on the launch of our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin* (Lay) at the Abington Quaker Meeting House Tuesday evening. Special thanks to Loretta Maguire Fox and Lee Hall!

We will hold the launch of our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin* (PM Press), this evening, Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 6:00 pm at the Abington Quaker Meeting House, where Benjamin Lay worshipped and where he is buried. See the flyer below for more info. Please join us!

Ron Schatz wrote an excellent piece about the exhibition "Labor and Art," made from art in the collection of dear friends, Joe and Delsa White. In the Bost Building, 623 East 8th Ave., Homestead, PA, until Dec. 23, MWF 10 am - 12 noon and by appointment. Check it out! lawcha.org/2025/11/04/l...

Artist Leah Gordon’s exhibition, “Monument to the Vanquished Peasant,” is now up and running at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry through Jan. 26, 2026. Leah designed a special wallpaper for the show, featuring the many-headed hydra. I love it! www.theherbert.org/news/333/a-n...

In Bologna tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 6:30 pm I will be in conversation with my dear friend Matilde Cazzola about “history from below” at the Libreria modo infoshop, via Mascarella, 24/b. Join us! www.facebook.com/events/79022...

Last week I saw another painting by Caravaggio in person: “Supper at Emmaus” (1606), at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. For his technical mastery, innovative methods, and psychological/emotional depth, I regard him as the world’s greatest painter. I wish I could write history the way he paints.

Next Thursday, October 30, in Milan, at 6:30 pm, I will speak, at the invitation of my friend and editor Raf Scelsi, on the theme “Piracy and the Maritime Origins of the Working Class.” Join us at the Shake Bookshop, Via Ingegnoli 13.

Next week in Milan, Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 7:00 pm, I will meet with the excellent historian Carlo Greppi and members of the research group "Laboratorio Lapsus” to discuss “history from below.” The event is organized by my publisher, elèuthera editrice. , Register here: shorturl.at/kjq2A and join us!

The smile on my face as I lectured at the University of St. Thomas two weeks ago says it all. I had a great time on my visit, thanks to Kanishka Chowdhury, his colleagues, and his students.

We offer through @pmpress.bsky.social a special discount on our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf who Fought Slavery*, co-written with Michelle Markel and illustrated by Sarah Bachman. Use OCTOBER at checkout for a 20% discount. pmpress.org/index.php?l=...

Also from my collection, the great Haitian artist, Frantz Zéphirin's painting entitled *The Spirit of the Indian Facing Colonization*, depicting the Spanish ship, *Conquistador*; the mask of red death killing an indigenous woman; and the face of the African who will replace her.

As many of you know, I collect Haitian art. The most famous painting in my collection is Frantz Zephirin’s *The Slave Ship Brooks*, which has been exhibited around the world, including the 2022 Venice Biennale. Here are photos of the painting and of Frantz when he had just completed it.

Here is a review I wrote for the *New York Times*. A Horrific Tale of the Slave Trade, Destined to Become a Classic www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/b...

Here is a lovely blog post by @leehall.bsky.social, for our book launch of *Fearless Benjamin*, Tues., Nov 11. I love the title: "It’s Never Too Late to Have a Truth-Filled Childhood.” Please mark your calendars, spread the word, and join us for the event! www.radnorquakers.net/its-never-to...

FHA is very pleased to announce that registration is now open for our annual fall event! Please join us online Sunday, 16 November for a book talk given by Professor Marcus Rediker featuring his new work, Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea @marcusrediker.bsky.social

It’s publication day! Our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf who Fought Slavery*, co-written with Michelle Markel and illustrated by Sarah Bachman, is out today with @pmpress.bsky.social. Use BEN! at checkout for a 20% discount. Help spread the word! pmpress.org/index.php?l=...

I loved listening to this interview @marcusrediker.bsky.social did on @kpfa.org about his new book *Freedom Ship*! Rediker tells the inspiring history of enslaved Black people in the U.S. deep South who escaped by ship with the help of free Black communities and abolitionist white sailors.

It was my great pleasure last night to speak, along with James Robinson, organizer Peter Rachleff, Walter Greason, and Ben Mchie at the East Side Freedom Library, an inspiring community center and liberated zone in St. Paul, MN! Thanks to Ry Siggelkow for the photo.

Excited to announce, two new translations of *The Many-Headed Hydra* appear this month: in Catalán, translated by Marta Cazorla Rodríguez, Manifest Books, Barcelona, and in Polish, translated by Andrzej Wojtasik, by Praktyka Teoretyczna, Warsaw. Thanks to all who gave new life to a 25-year old book!

The talk I gave yesterday in the #slaveryarchive Book Club series, about my new work *Freedom Ship*, is now available on Youtube. Thanks to @araujohistorian.bsky.social and @elotroalex.bsky.social for the invitation and for organizing the event. www.youtube.com/live/H17ToyM...

Monday, Oct. 6, 7:00 pm, I will take part in a discussion at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul, MN of the question “Why is it Important to Know the History of Resistance to Slavery?” Thanks to my friend Peter Rachleff for the invitation. Join us! eastsidefreedomlibrary.org/event/book-d...

Here is a review of my new book *Freedom Ship* by Eric Foner, published yesterday in *The New York Review of Books* (@nybooks.com). www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Happy to announce, we will launch our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin* Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 6:00 pm at the Abington Quaker Meeting House, where Benjamin Lay worshipped and where he is buried. See the flyer below for more info. Mark your calendars, join us, & spread the word! @pmpress.bsky.social

Sat., Oct. 4, at 2:00 pm EDT it will be my pleasure to speak about my new book *Freedom Ship* with the #slaveryarchive Book Club. Please register through the link below and join us! Warm thanks to @araujohistorian.bsky.social and Alex Gil for organizing the event. us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Next Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 pm I will speak about my new book *Freedom Ship* in McNeely Hall, Room 100, at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Thanks to Kanishka Chowdhury for organizing the event. Join us! uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__Summ...

My blurb: "Manuel Barcia brilliantly shows how the concept ‘pirate’ … served the vast and violent purposes of empire. He also demonstrates that the theme of piracy broadly conceived now attracts the best scholars exploring the biggest issues in global history.” yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Always a pleasure to visit St. Nicholas Church in Millvale, PA, and to see the spectacular murals painted by Maxo Vanka in 1937 and 1941. The first image is entitled “The Capitalist.” The second, taken from the ceiling, reminds me of the work of William Blake.

One copy for our free little library and one to keep. Looking forward to sharing this great book about Benjamin Lay by @marcusrediker.bsky.social

Here is a one-hour interview I did about my new book, *Freedom Ship* with Morteza Hajizadeh for New Books Network (@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

Yesterday I visited the very impressive International African American Museum in Charleston, SC. I especially liked the replica “Praise House” that was built inside the museum. I also admired the numerous films and contemporary art projects. Highly recommended!

Friday, Sept. 19, 6:00 pm: I'll be part of “Sailing to Freedom,” a free program sponsored by the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program/College of Charleston – the opening of a new exhibition and a book talk about *Freedom Ship*. Info/register here: calendar.charleston.edu/event/sailin...

Saddened to hear of the death of Vincent Scotti Eirene, one of Pittsburgh’s greatest activists over the past forty years. A man of spirit, humor, and fierce devotion to peace and social justice, he was truly one of a kind. Had a good bit of the Yippie in him. Here is one of his favorite photos. RIP.

Thanks to Harris Feinsod for an excellent tour yesterday of Frederick Douglass-related places in Fell’s Point, Baltimore, the waterfront district where he lived much of his life between 1826-1838. Here is the central house on “Douglass Row,” five townhouses he built in 1892, and a nearby mural.

Thanks, Alf!

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 10:30 am, I'll give a talk/workshop at Johns Hopkins entitled "How to Write (Maritime) History from Below." The event is sponsored by the Tidewater Initiative and the Maritime Committee of the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Join us! sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...