New York: Marlowe & Company, (1997) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's first novel, based on the actual events surrounding the uprising of 53 slaves on the Spanish slaver Amistad in 1839. After the ship was towed to Connecticut, there were a series of trials to determine if they should be returned to Havana or given their freedom, culminating in a Supreme Court hearing with former President John Quincy Adams representing the Africans. Sources. 292 pp. ISBN: 1-56924-748x.