The revolutionary life of an eighteenth-century dwarf activist who was among the first to fight against slavery and animal cruelty

Prophet against Slavery is an action-packed chronicle of a remarkable and radical individual. It is based on the award-winning biography by Marcus Rediker, which prompted the Quaker community that once disowned Lay to embrace him again after 280 years. Graphic novelist David Lester brings the full scope of Lay's activism and ideas to life.

Born in 1682 to a humble Quaker family in Essex, England, Lay was a forceful and prescient visionary. Understanding the fundamental evil that slavery represented, he employed guerrilla theatre tactics and direct action to shame slave owners and traders. The prejudice Lay suffered as a dwarf and a hunchback, as well as his devout faith, informed his passion for human and animal liberation. Exhibiting stamina, fortitude, and integrity in the face of the cruelties practiced against his 'fellow creatures', he was frequently a solitary voice speaking truth to power.

Lester's beautiful imagery and storytelling, accompanied by afterwords from Rediker and Paul Buhle, capture the radicalism, the humour, and the humanity of this uncannily modern figure. A testament to the impact each of us can make, Prophet against Slavery brings Lay'' prophetic vision to a new generation of young activists who today echo his call of 300 years ago: 'No justice, no peace!'

"Praise for The Fearless Benjamin Lay:

Like most satisfying biographies, Rediker's is part group biography, offering sketches of the lives with which Lay's intersected." - Times Literary Supplement

"Praise for The Fearless Benjamin Lay:

It is a pretty safe bet that for every 1,000 people who know of William Wilberforce, no more than the odd one might have heard of Benjamin Lay. But if anyone deserves to muscle in on the mildly self-congratulatory and largely middle-class pantheon of Abolitionist Saints, it is the gloriously improbable and largely forgotten Quaker throwback and hero of Marcus Rediker's generous and absorbing act-his own phrase-of 'retrospective justice'." - Spectator

"Praise for The Fearless Benjamin Lay:

Rediker has done a valuable service in rescuing Lay from obscurity ... I suspect there will be few readers who won't want to boil a celebratory turnip to salute what Benjamin Lay achieved in the course of his long and remarkable life." - Daily Mail

"Praise for The Fearless Benjamin Lay:

This is micro-history at its best, a careful concentration on one small man's activities as a way of testing out the limits of what could be thought, known and felt in the hive-mind of early modern America." - Guardian (Best biographies of the year 2017)

"Praise for The Fearless Benjamin Lay:

It is a pretty safe bet that people reading this excellent biography of the Quaker radical Benjamin Lay will not have heard of him or his exploits. Hopefully because of Marcus Rediker's hard work and perseverance more people will now know of this extraordinary figure." - A Trumpet of Sedition

"Praise for The Fearless Benjamin Lay:

Historian Marcus Rediker's excellent book . illuminates the life of this extraordinary man." - New Statesman