PRESS & REVIEWS
ABC News
January 20, 2022
ABC News’ Linsey Davis speaks with A.E. Rooks about her new book “The Black Joke: The True Story of One Ship’s Battle Against the Slave Trade.”
Yahoo Entertainment
January 19, 2022
Amazon #1 New Release
Number One New Release in Slavery & Emancipation History
Review: Kirkus
Polymath Rooks, a two-time Jeopardy! champion who has degrees in theater, law, and library science, turns her prodigious research skills to what amounts to a historical footnote to hundreds of years of human misery—though this footnote is well worth a close look. […]
A tale skillfully teased out of the vaults and made vivid by an artful narrative.
Starred Review: Library Journal
In this beautifully written book, Rooks paints an exciting portrait of the exploits of this ship and its crew. The author pays careful attention to the multiracial crews of British ships, giving special attention to the Kroomen, members of a tribe from Liberia, valued for their sailing and onboard skills.
VERDICT: Rooks’s sensitive treatment of enslaved people and the crew of the Black Joke makes this a recommended read for those interested in slavery studies and British or West African history.
Review: BookPage
January 18, 2022 | Priscilla Kipp
For all we know, or think we know, about the long, dark history of the slave trade, it seems there is always more to learn. In The Black Joke: The True Story of One Ship’s Battle Against the Slave Trade, A.E. Rooks adds global and historical context to the travesties and tragedies that took place along the coast of West Africa in the 1800s. A versatile, accomplished scholar, and two-time “Jeopardy!” champion, Rooks introduces a cast of ambitious commanders, insensitive rulers and policymakers, heroic ship captains, beleaguered sailors and heartless enslavers. […]
Rooks accumulates these daunting details with a wry but respectful touch. Her occasional wit, perhaps incongruous given the dire events she relates, may be her way of reminding us of our common humanity, still present even amid inhumane conditions.
Review: Publishers Weekly
Jeopardy! winner Rooks debuts with an accessible history of the Black Joke, the flagship of Britain’s anti-slavery West African Squadron. […] Rooks succeeds in capturing the human dimensions of the story. This is an enlightening take on a lesser-known aspect of the fight to end slavery.