I haven't read the earlier book about Mungo, but his argument at Cambridge brings up points that still resonate today. What is freedom really? When the wealthy and entitled use their position to raise people up does it make life better for those that aren't? Slavery is never okay, something many people in the time of this book don't understand, but neither is paying people pittance and then charging them more for life's necessities than they can afford. I don't know if slavery will continue to be the tone set for the whole book, but it opens better and more compellingly than the other Wilbur Smith books I've previewed through BookishFirst.