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Natasha Trethewey's poem "Native Guard" begins and ends with the phrase "Truth be told," but the poem demonstrates just how difficult it can be to tell the truth — or even a truth — about history. "Native Guard" excavates historical events that many readers will find unfamiliar: the experience of Black Union troops guarding Confederate prisoners on Ship Island in the Mississippi Gulf Coast during the Civil War. This complex history is expressed in a crosshatched poetic form: contemporaneous journal entries arranged in a series of interlinked sonnets that juxtapose the history written in ink on paper with the pain written in blood on people's bodies and the bones buried beneath every historical account. While teaching the poem requires careful attention to historical context, poetic form, and repetition of words, the experience provides an answer to the question students keep asking: Why do we have to keep reading about slavery? This essay describes some pedagogical choices that may help students grasp their responsibility for seeking truths that can't easily be told because they lie buried beneath unexamined historical narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Sojourners, Sultans and Slaves: America and the Indian Ocean in the age of abolition and Empire" by Gunja Sen Gupta and Awam Amkpa explores the history of slavery and abolition in the Indian Ocean World during the 19th century. The book compares and analyzes the different forms of slavery and bondage in the East and West, as well as the transoceanic paths of activism against slavery. It also examines the interactions between the American South and the British South Asian Empire, and the subaltern experiences of marginalized individuals in the context of migration and international slave trades. The book provides a micro-historical perspective and expands the understanding of slavery and abolition beyond the Atlantic World. [Extracted from the article]

"The Indentured and Their Route: A Relentless Quest for Identity" by Bhaswati Mukherjee is a historical account of the girmitiyas, indentured laborers from India who were sent to work on sugarcane plantations in the West Indies, Mauritius, Suriname, Reunion, and Fiji in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The book explores the hardships and routes of these indentured laborers, highlighting their resilience and the impact they had on shaping civilizations in distant places. It also examines the loss of identity experienced by the indentured and the lasting impact of Indian indenture on postcolonial societies. This book is recommended for researchers interested in colonial history, migration studies, multiculturalism, and the Indian diaspora. [Extracted from the article]