Bury the Chains (2005)

For his superb account of the British antislavery movement of the late 18th century, Adam Hochschild draws from poetry, songs, pamphlets, diaries, and best-selling autobiographies. But he never lets exhaustive research clutter up a witty, wonderfully readable narrative. In describing the first grassroots human rights campaign, he focuses on a handful of memorable figures, like the towering redheaded Thomas Clarkson (Coleridge called him a ''moral Steam-Engine''). He's equally attuned to exactly what was at stake: His descriptions of West Indian slavery in Bury the Chains will make you want to put down the book and shut your eyes in horror.