At the outset of the American Revolution, the British governor of Virginia issued a proclamation declaring that slaves of American rebels would be freed if they joined royal forces attempting to restore order. This was the beginning of a long journey for those who would come to be called the Black Loyalists, many of whom would end up under British rule in what was then the colony of Nova Scotia.

In her new book, ethnologist Ruth Holmes Whitehead traces the lives of Black Loyalists from South Carolina and Georgia. Part one examines slavery in the region, and includes powerful excerpts from memoirs of former slaves. Part two includes a year-by-year timeline of the Revolution’s effect, detailing the contributions of slaves who joined the British. Part three looks at how the Black Loyalists ended up in Nova Scotia, their lives once they arrived, and the modern-day efforts to reconstruct their history.

A key lesson in this book is that British forces were not primarily motivated by concern for human freedom. The British sometimes treated the blacks who joined their cause abominably. For example, during the 1781 siege of Yorktown, General Cornwallis turned out black people, releasing them to their former masters with only a lame plea that they be treated kindly.

While Black Loyalists chronicles key historical events, this is not a book aimed at the general public. Whitehead explains that it is meant primarily for the descendants of the settlers in the title, many of whom still live in Nova Scotia. The abundance of details will likely prove tedious for anyone without a specific interest in the subject.

The book also suffers from a lack of context, so prior familiarity with, for example, the causes of the American Revolution is a must. Future historians can hopefully use Whitehead’s research to put together a more comprehensive general-interest analysis that would bring this neglected chapter of Canadian history to light.