Possible clue to who "The Economist" review was. UPDATE: "The Economist" says it isn't Alan Farmer.

UPDATE: The Economist contacted me and said Alan Farmer wasn't the author of the review.

If you go to this website you will find the following PDF.

https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/getattachment/Subjects/History/Series-pages/Access-to-History/Series-Boxes/Sample-Chapters/Sample-Chapters/United-States-Civil-War-causes,-course-and-effects.pdf.aspx

Floggings were rare, if only because slave owners had a vested interest in
the care and maintenance of their property. Just as most Rolls-Royce
owners today take good care of their cars, so slave owners looked after
their ‘property’. (A prime field hand was worth much the same as a
modern-day top-of-the-range car.)

The author of this chapter argues that the experience of slavery varied a lot and is in keeping with the reviewers opinion.

This "sample chapter" is from a history series they publish titled "

• United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840-1877

That is the link on the following pages.

 https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/accesstohistory/samplechapters

The author seems to be Alan Farmer according to this link.

http://www.amazon.com/History-American-Courses-Consequences-1803-1877/dp/0340965878/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410138940&sr=1-3

He quotes Fogel and Engerman as if they were competent historians. 

I don't know if it is Alan Farmer who wrote The Economist review but they seem to have the same views on slavery.. He could just be another slavery apologist. Perhaps the educational and historical establishment in Britain is full of them.

I was able to identify Farmer with key phrases from The Economist review using Google.

Farmer is retired and so I am trying to locate a contact email.