Discover how the campaign to end slavery divided Britain and was almost thwarted by some of the most powerful and famous figures of the era.

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING**

In 1807, Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire. But for the next 25 years more than 700,000 people remained enslaved, due to the immensely powerful pro-slavery group the 'West India Interest'.

This ground-breaking history discloses the extent to which the 'Interest' were supported by nearly every figure of the British establishment - fighting, not to abolish slavery, but to maintain it for profit. Gripping and unflinching, The Interest is the long-overdue exposé of one of Britain's darkest, most turbulent times.

A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Scintillating . . . compulsively readable' Guardian

'A magnificent book . . . riveting' Evening Standard

'A critical piece of history and a devastating exposé' Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire

'Thoroughly researched and potent' David Lammy MP

'Essential reading' Simon Sebag Montefiore

"Impressively researched and engagingly written" - Sunday Times

"A magnificent book ... riveting" - Evening Standard

"Powerful ... engrossing ... Taylor's potent book shows why slavery took root as an essential part of British national life" - Independent

"Taylor can tell a story superbly and has a fine eye for detail ... His argument is a potent and necessary corrective to a cosy national myth" - Economist

"Michael Taylor's well-researched The Interest is ... about abolition, but it focuses on the grandees who fought against it, mostly for reasons of greed ... those seeking a catalogue of the country's old iniquities need look no further" - Telegraph Books of the Year

"Scintillating ... In twenty brisk, gripping chapters, Taylor charts the course from the foundation of the Anti-Slavery Society in 1823 to the final passage of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. Part of what makes this a compulsively readable book is his skill in cross-cutting between three groups of protagonists. On one track, we follow the abolitionist campaigners on their lengthy, uphill battle ... This well-known story is reanimated by some brilliant pen-portraits ... A second strand illuminates the fears and bigotries of white British West Indians ... The main focus of the book, however, is on the colonists' powerful domestic allies, the so-called West India Interest ... Taylor paints a vivid picture of their outlook, organisation and superior political connections ... As this timely, sobering book reminds us, British abolition cannot be celebrated as an inevitable or precocious national triumph. It was not the end, but only the beginning" - Guardian

"One achievement of Taylor's fascinating book is that, for the first time in a book about abolition, it gives equal weight to the force of pro-slavery ... Taylor's political analysis is first-rate and riveting ... He argues that emancipation was neither inevitable nor altruistic; party politics in Westminster and rebellion from the West Indies played as much a role as moral outrage. Taylor's achievement [is to] show that, thanks to the power of the Interest, being pro-slavery was seen as a respectable, even popular, position in British politics until the day of its demise. Above all, he reminds us of the role of those who have been unsung in this story - of Mary Prince, Samuel Sharpe and Quamina" - The Times

"Taylor superbly brings to life all the intrigue, machinations, heavy-lifting, rigmarole and chance of the tortuous path to abolition" - Literary Review

"Impressive ... Taylor tells a compelling story, graced with anecdotes but driven by argument, that moves the reader to and fro between London and the Caribbean, and between aristocratic houses and anti-slavery rallies ... with fierce moral passion ... Taylor vividly evokes the slave revolts ... reveals some of the atrocities perpetrated by slave-owners ... Yet the book's primary focus is political because, as Taylor emphasises, the abolition of slavery turned to a large extent on events at Westminster ... Yet votes were not enough; bribery was also vital ... The writing of British history must encompass slave-power, not just sea-power - as Taylor's scorching book makes clear" - New Statesman

"Offer[s] [a] fresh perspective on the story of reform and challenge[s] many of the prevailing, at times self-congratulatory, narratives of abolition ... Taylor assesses how far earnings from slavery permeated British society. He names the banks, universities and industries that all benefited directly from the trade ... lessons for today" - Financial Times

"Reads like a murder mystery ... Taylor challenges nostalgic politicians' desire to resurrect a sanitised, 'civilizing mission' version of our imperial past, perpetuating the myth of Britain as an anti-slavery nation" - Writers Mosaic

"[An] excellent new book... The scale of what the abolitionists were up against is only now becoming clear ... Taylor's book is one of the few studies to give it equal time" - London Review of Books