Author Event: Mission to Madagascar by David Mould

In July 1817, an enterprising East India Company sergeant called James Hastie set out on a risky mission—to travel to the court of the ruler of the rising military power in Madagascar to try to persuade him to end the slave trade from the island. It’s a story of hazardous travel through the tropical rainforest, warring clans, and byzantine court intrigue, all set against the geopolitical rivalry between Britain and France in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. This is a brand new work of historical nonfiction.

Our guest author is David H. Mould, Professor Emeritus at Ohio University, a consultant for UNICEF. Born in the UK, he has worked as a newspaper and TV journalist, documentary producer, media trainer, and freelance writer. He has published books and articles on World War I documentary films, the 19th-century U.S., the transportation revolution, and oral history. His travel tales from Asia and Africa, including Madagascar, are featured in the three-book Postcards series.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Athens Public Library.