Book cover of The Fearless Benjamin Lay

Book description

The Fearless Benjamin Lay chronicles the transatlantic life and times of a singular and astonishing man-a Quaker dwarf who became one of the first ever to demand the total, unconditional emancipation of all enslaved Africans around the world. He performed public guerrilla theatre to shame slave masters, insisting that human…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Fearless Benjamin Lay as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I was entertained and enlightened by the story of Benjamin Lay, an eccentric, dramatic, and outrageous abolitionist figure I had never heard of before. His guerrilla political theater was something new on the American scene. 

Many thought that slavery and its associated atrocities had driven him over the edge of sanity. Whether it did or did not is an open question. In either case, he was one of the fathers of anti-slavery activism.

If you love The Fearless Benjamin Lay...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like The Fearless Benjamin Lay?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 92 books like The Fearless Benjamin Lay.

Browse books like The Fearless Benjamin Lay

Book cover of Rough Crossings
Book cover of Bury the Chains
Book cover of The Making of an Afro-American: Martin Robison Delany

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,366

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The Fearless Benjamin Lay, you might also like...

Book cover of Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South

Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South by William D. Auman,

Award-winning novelist William Auman, author of If Trees Could Testify..., takes the reader on a time-traveling odyssey featuring 345 bodies of water in six states within the historical context through which they unfold.

Journey into remaining Colonial-era wilderness with stories of pirate treasure, epic frontiersmen, Indigenous Peoples, and Revolutionary…

Book cover of A Winter's Disgrace

A Winter's Disgrace by Kathleen Buckley,

Cyprian, a marquess’s heir, will not let his mother choose his next bride. Leaving a house party in a blizzard to avoid her stratagems, he finds a woman trudging half frozen toward the London road. Rosamund fled disgrace, hoping to reach the one person who might shelter her, but even…

5 book lists we think you will like!