In 2013 we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Dutch abolishment of slavery with the publication of Rebellion on the Slave Ship Meermin by Dan Sleigh and Piet Westra. This is the first in-depth study of the uprising of the slaves of the VOC ship Meermin at the coast of Madagascar. The crew becomes lazy and mindless and their ‘cargo’ use a bloody rebellion to change to course of fate. The wreck of the ship has never been found but with extensive research Sleigh and Westra are able to reconstruct the events from 1766.

Against all orders, the crew decided to release the slaves from their shackles. An act of humanity or laziness? The slaves were put to work cleaning the ‘assegaaien’. Exotic spears that the crew had captured. Soon half the crew was slaughtered and the other half tried ‘flessenpost’, messages in bottles, to escape from this situation alive.

The history of the slave ship Meermin is expertly unravelled in this sensational record. There have been several searches for the wreck of the ship near the coast of Madagascar in the last decades. But the Meermin has never been found. Now we will finally find out what has happened.

‘Expectation are high when Dan Sleigh and Piet Westra join forces in a book about a forgotten chapter of the history of the East India Company in Eighteenth Century South-Africa. Both live up to their reputations in the book about the Meermin. They handle the horrible nature and injustice of the slavery in a subdued manner. The moral rejection of the Dutch slave trade of the kings of Madagascar isn’t written explicitly but it gradually gets a grip on the reader. And that is the great strength of this unforgettable and unique story in which the recently acquired slaves overpower the Dutch crew when they show carelessness. Half of the crew is killed, the other half is captured below the deck. “A book written by word artists who have read the oldest and most reliable sources with an eye for objectivity and precision”, was the review by a South African newspaper. And so it is. Now for the movie, a blockbuster starring Johnny Depp.’ – Leeuwarder Courant

‘Some stories have a universal value. This applies to the exiting stories of the rebellion on the VOC-ship Meermin in 1766. There are reports from the authorities and the crew but also from civilians and slaves. This is a unique book, unlike anything previously published. It is the first complete description of this specific slave rebellion and it provides all elements with a broad historical context. And the results are there. Sleigh and Westra have made a clear reconstruction of the rebellion and do so in lively style. The readers has a hard time putting the book aside. It is a thrilling story, wonderfully illustrated, well indexed with a brief bibliography and footnotes.’ – Historiek.net

‘Dan Sleigh and Piet Westra succeed in showing the immorality and injustice of slavery and slave trade through this one event. They avoid pressing on the moral indignation and let the story in itself present the drama. Which evokes more than enough moral outrage on its own.’ – Literatuurplein.nl

‘I have read it with great interest. It has become a truly readable story with more than enough background information for those who want to read more. I saw everything happening before my own eyes. This isn’t dry non-fiction, this is a thrilling story! Fascinating!’ – The Read Shop