William Wilberforce: A Biography

William Wilberforce's name will forever be associated with the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. This lively biography includes primary documentation about the experience of slaves and slave traders. Drawing on his experience as a journalist and a church historian, Tomkins' book traces Wilberforce's early years as the son of a wealthy merchant family in Hull and his dissolute life in Cambridge. Following his work as an MP under Pitt and his evangelical conversion, he became a campaigner for public morality and led the parliamentary movement for the abolition of slavery. The book covers the formation of the "Clapham Sect" and the passing of the Anti-Slave trade act, up to Wilberforce's death just 3 days after the final reading of the Emancipation Bill.