This book tells the untold story of the fight to defend slavery in the British Empire. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from art, poetry, and literature, to propaganda, scientific studies, and parliamentary papers, Proslavery Britain explores the many ways in which slavery's defenders helped shape the processes of abolition and emancipation. It finds that proslavery arguments and rhetoric were carefully crafted to justify slavery, defend the colonies, and attack the abolition movement at the height of the slavery debates.

Jean-Baptiste Henri du Trousset de Valincour (1653-1730) was both government official and man of letters. In his governmental career, he occupied prominent posts in the household of le comte de Toulouse, son of Louis XIV and Admiral of France. As a man of letters he made his mark as the author of the first critical appraisal of Madame de Lafayette's masterpiece, La Princess de Cleves. He was a poet, literary critic, historian, and polemicist for the Church of France.