Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston offers a poignant and powerful account of Cudjo Lewis, the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade. Praised for its historical importance and Hurston's empathetic narrative style, some critiques note its reliance on dialect as potentially challenging. Overall, the book is valued for illuminating an essential part of American history.

Readers who appreciate in-depth oral histories, African American narratives, and works like Alex Haley's Roots or Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me will find Barracoon compelling. They value firsthand accounts and historical insights into the transatlantic slave trade and its enduring impact.

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston is a firsthand narrative of Oluale “Cudjo Lewis” Kossola's life, detailing his joyous youth in Africa, the agonies of the Middle Passage aboard the Clotilda, enslavement in the United States, and rebuilding his life in Africa Town, Alabama. The narrative intertwines Kossola's recollections with Hurston's reflections on her interviews with him and those experiences. This book discusses slavery, extreme violence, murder, and police brutality.

Informative / Melancholic / Mysterious / Emotional / Contemplative

- Zora Neale Hurston completed the manuscript for Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" in 1931, but it wasn't published until 2018, decades after her death.
- The book is based on Hurston's interviews with Cudjoe Lewis, one of the last known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade, conducted in the late 1920s.
- Hurston insisted on using Lewis's vernacular language in the narrative, a choice that contributed to the manuscript's initial rejection by publishers in her time.

**Zora Neale Hurston**  
An anthropologist and novelist known for works like "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Mules and Men," who documents the story of Oluale Kossola, also known as Cudjo Lewis, in "Barracoon," utilizing her approach as a participant-observer.

**Oluale Kossola/Cudjo Lewis**  
The main subject of "Barracoon," born in West Africa and captured at age 19 by Dahomey soldiers, who shares his firsthand account of slavery and life in America through interviews with Hurston.

**Charlotte Osgood Mason**  
A philanthropist and patron of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance who supported Hurston's research and travel for interviewing Kossola and provided financial assistance for Kossola himself.

**Deborah G. Plant**  
The editor responsible for bringing "Barracoon" to publication in 2018, known for maintaining the integrity of Hurston's original work by making minimal edits and providing scholarly insight in her introduction.

**King Ghezo of Dahomey**  
A notable historical figure mentioned in "Barracoon" for his involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, who ordered aggressive raids that culminated in the capture of individuals like Kossola.

Zora Neale Hurston

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