Philip D. Curtin (1922-2009) was a Prominet American historian specialize in African history and the Atlantic slave trade. Curtin's The Slave trade: A Census (1969) was groundbreaking, it offers systematic attempt to quantify the number of Africans transported to America. He challenged exaggerated earlier estimates and presented conservative figure around 9.5 million enslaved Africans, his work emphasized the need for accuracy and data driven history. Curtin's style is empirical, cautious, and methodical. 

Curtin, Philip D. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison" University of Wisconsin Press, 1969

Eric Williams (1911-1981) was a Trinidian historian and the first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago. His work emphasized the economic motivations behind slavery. he has an influential book called Capitalism and Slavery (1944) that argued slavery was driven by economic profit. Williams contented that the wealth generated from the slave trade helped fuel industrial capitalism in Europe. He also argues about Britian abolished slavery out for humanitarian concern. Williams wrote in persuasive and polemical style.

Williams, Eric. Capitalism and Slavery. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994 

Stephanie E. Smallwood is a modern historian that focuses African diaspora and slavery lived experiences. She is currently a professor at University of Washington. In Saltwater slavery" A middle passage from Africa to America Diaspora (2007), Smallwood explores the psychological and social dislocation of African captives during the crossing. Smallwood argues that they slave trade created a new form of identity "fungibility" where enslaved people were treated as interchangeable commodities. She uses personal accounts and economic records to illustrate how African individuals were dehumanized. Her writing is evocating and scholarly, blending economic analysis with emotional and narrative depth. 

Smallwood, Stephanie E. Saltwater Slavery: A middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora. Cambridge, MA: Havard University Press, 2007.

David Eltis is a leading historian of the transatlantic slave trade and has been central to digital history projects that map slave voyages. Eltis cp-authored the Trans - Atlantic slave trade: A database on CD-ROM (1999) and the atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (2010), which visualize the scope and routes of the trade. Etli's wok emphasizes the scale, logistics, and regional variations of the trade, and argues that understanding patterns and volume is essential to grasping slavery's global dimensions. Eltis combines digital innovation with scholarly rigor which his work is often accessible, data rich. 

Eltis, David, and David Richardson. Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.