Once I started reading this book, I could not believe that it hadn't been written before. Not because Dr. Berry's analysis is obvious, but because the material that she assembles from archival and narrative sources seems so crucial to our understanding of slavery and so essential at this junction in American history. This was an astounding read, one who historical insight and moral force are evident from beginning to end. As we reckon today with both the ethical shortcomings and blindspots of our ostensibly "free" society and the violent repercussions of such implicit bias, a book that challenges us to think about the very nature of commodification is a sobering reminder of the lingering stain on the American ideal of freedom. The way that Berry combines economic and intellectual history is a model of compelling analysis and storytelling. It beautifully complements other eye-opening analyses of America's racialized history by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ibram X. Kendi. Absolutely a must-read!

It took me some time to make it through this book, a remarkable work of scholarship, because I had to wrestle with many of the things I was learning. You see, it had never occurred to me,a white man with a master's degree in history, that of COURSE the slaves knew their economic worth. Now, I read Fogel & Engerman in grad school, but of course they didn't give two whits about the slaves' experiences. Dr. Berry's work should supplant or even replace theirs. Simply stunning work. ( )

As a genealogist and historian, I found the topic of this work very intriguing. While the title did not really give an idea of the subject the subtitle was the net which caught my attention, The Value of the enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation. The perspective taken by Berry is quite different from anything I have read in the past. My knowledge of Southern history is not as strong as other locals, nor do I have a special interest due to personal family research. This is part of why I gravitate to books such as this one.
The research undertaken, appears to be exhaustive. If you are a genealogist or historian the records used to obtain information for this publication may be new to you and well worth your time to discover, so you can apply, obtain and use the sources for your own research.
Describing the life of a slave based on their value was very interesting. To put this in a timeline comparing how that value changes from birth to death was incredible. I would highly recommend his informative work to all historians, even going so far as to say it should be read by anyone with ties to the South. Whether you family was enslaved or the owner of slaves there is a lot of data to be gleaned from this work. Not to leave out the non-slave owning population, others reading this book will gain insight into the community, culture and general life people from the South.
One of the most noteworthy sections dealt with postmortem, cemeteries and the medical schools. Slaves would raid cemeteries for bodies (not legally and probably without their owner knowing) and deliver them to some of the greatest medical schools in the U.S. A little known, fact that much of our early medical information gleaned from cadavers was based on the African population and not on a European population.
Wonderful book and I am grateful to have had the introduction and then the ability to read this work thanks to Librarything. ( )

This is a fascinating and disquieting account of the commodification of human life and human bodies. Although it would be naïve to expect a book about slavery to be anything but disquieting, Dr. Berry’s years of research into and study of the subject and her pairing of the voices of the enslaved juxtaposed with their assessed economic value and their, on average, higher sale price from gestation and into the grave and beyond made this privileged old white male reader quite squeamish—and deservedly so.

The economic value of the slave is given as a capital value, as a piece of farm machinery or an item of livestock would be assessed for property insurance. The arrangement of the book follows the life cycle of slaves from before birth, as the value of a “breeding Wench,” might be higher for a plantation owner wanting to expand his “stock,” and less for a slave owner wanting a domestic worker, where the enslaved woman’s child care duties would be an interruption of her household duties. This fluctuating valuation continues even after death when the mortal remain of the slave would be sold by the owner, or stolen by grave robbers for dissection, a growing trade in the 18th century and a well-established extralegal practice in the 19th. Berry coins the term “ghost value” for this postmortem trade for which medical colleges would pay up to $30 for a cadaver, or $881 in 2014 dollars. She uses another neologism for the value, or self-worth that the enslaved person put on him- or herself, their “soul value.” This was an unquantifiable value. ( )

I was hoping to win an Early Review Copy of this book, so I was pretty happy when I actually did! If you're a fan of nonfiction, historical books I'd definitely recommend this. I thought the premise of the book was interesting and original, and it was very well researched. It is a difficult book to read due to the heartbreaking history, but it's a worthwhile examination. The writing style is also not dry at all, and author Daina Ramey Berry really grabs your attention. ( )