Brycchan Carey is currently Reader in English Literature at Kingston University, where he speciallizes in cultural history of slavery and abolition. Carey is also president of The Literary London Society and treasurer of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. He has authored and edited several books, in addition to a number of essays on slavery and abolition.

In his book From Peace to Freedom, Carey shows how the Quakers turned against slavery in the first half of the 18th century and became the first organization to take a stand against the slave trade. Through meticulous examination of the earliest writings of the Friends, including journals and letters, Carey reveals the society's gradual transition from expressing doubt about slavery to adamant opposition.

Carey's talk was sponsored the Department of Religion and Friends Historical Library.