THOUGH THE HEAVENS MAY FALL The Landmark Trial that Lead to the End of Human Slavery

In 1772 a landmark judgment in England was handed down in the trial of an enslaved African man who was petitioning for his freedom. An abolitionist named Granville Sharpe sought the ruling, hoping for “the test case that would lay the problem of English slavery to rest forever." It did, but the American Colonies were doomed to settle the issue by civil war 89 years later. With much of the trial's transcript and testimony included, narrator Andrew Shapiro does little more than read it all without embellishment. Even with his brisk delivery, he has trouble making the words flow into smooth sentences. The eighteenth-century discourse and legal jargon may appeal more to historians and specialists in jurisprudence than general readers. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2010]