This makes for a very interesting read. Johnson's personal writing style doesn't shine through much due to the way he chose to build a narrative around historical sources, but he nonetheless tells an interesting and cohesive story that draws the reader in and exposes some of the insidious history surrounding the slave trade in our country. history. The book is divided into seven sections, ten including the introduction and the epilogue, as well as a section dedicated to illustrations of the historical documents discussed in the text. Johnson also includes a section titled “Notes,” in which he compiled his sources. The “Notes” section is not a simple bibliography. It also includes helpful author's notes describing the context of sources that did not fit into the main narrative, as well as references for those who wish to do their own research. For example, one note contains information about a book by Tadman which contains information on the number of slaves traded. The author includes a summary including migration figures and the percentage of these figures directly linked to trade. This section is helpfully divided and labeled, with notes mentioned in each part of the book labeled by section. Each notation and illustration is referenced in the text by numbers which coincide with each note or illustration providing more detail.