According to opinion writer Annie Tobey of Boomer Magazine, “the longer I live and learn – delving into new books and museum exhibits and exploring research that digs deeper into the realities of the past – the more my worldview shifts. Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia, by Ric Murphy, provides such eye-opening facts to add context to Virginia history and to current issues.” She shares that “historians realize that although history is set in stone, the way it is understood and interpreted can be fluid. By examining and interpreting primary sources with the benefit of distance, researchers have turned over stones to reveal new perspectives.”

She wrote “Murphy looks at the first Africans to arrive in Virginia, including where they came from, how they got here, and their status (free or slave) upon arrival. He provides needed historical context in examining the whites who are part of the story, from captors to colonists to Europeans conflicting with colonists. He provides a new understanding into many aspects of what readers may consider a history they already knew …for more info.