In 2018, river guide Ben Raines plunged into Mobile Bay's desolate swamp waterways in pursuit of a mystery. His recovery that day of a sodden worn plank bearing rusted handmade nails made possible the eventual identification of the legendary 1860 Clotilda schooner known to local residents as the last slave ship to import African slaves to America. Clotilda's identification would garner international attention. She symbolized the countless voyages preceding it and the centuries old brutal practices integral to the Atlantic Slave Trade. Raines' important book highlights the previous scholarship surrounding this particular voyage, the discovery of the vessel, and the story of the human cargo forced into the hold, their post-Civil War lives, communities and descendants. Highly recommended.
— Nancy Scheemaker