On Sale (US) January 27, 2026
“An engrossing tale ... An account of powerful people behaving badly that’s hard to resist.” — Kirkus Reviews
"A brave, brilliant, and essential book, telling truths that many will not want to hear." — Marcus Rediker, author of The Slave Ship: A Human History
“Few histories carry such quiet power. The Crown’s Silence is both a revelation and a requiem for the countless human lives lost to the slave trade. In cool, crisp prose, Brooke Newman spares no one as she unravels the threads of complicity between monarch and merchant, buyer and bystander." — Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, A World on Fire, & The World Made by Women
On Sale (UK) January 29, 2026
"Diligent, forensic and surprising, The Crown’s Silence is a book that will provoke many necessary and overdue conversations." — Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe
"At last! A comprehensive yet forensic study of the royal family's slavery involvement. In response to Brooke N. Newman’s groundbreaking new book, the royals should use their global platform to promote better public knowledge of the slavery system and its legacies." — Professor Corinne Fowler, author of The Countryside: Ten Walks Through Rural Britain and its Hidden History of Empire
Articles & News
About Brooke
Brooke Newman is an Associate Professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is an award-winning historian of early modern Britain and the British monarchy, with a research specialization in the history and legacies of slavery. Her essays have appeared in The Guardian, Slate, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, i-news, and Scalawag Magazine, and her research on the Crown’s historical links to slavery has been featured by the BBC, NPR, PRX, Vox, Yahoo News, CBC, ABC, Time, Smithsonian Magazine, the Richmond Times Dispatch, Al Jazeera, and other outlets.
