The basis for the Academy Award(R)-winning movie!
A moving, vital testament to one of slavery's 'many thousand gone' who
retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation. -- Saturday Review
Born a free man in New York State in 1808, Solomon Northup was kidnapped
in Washington, DC, in 1841. He spent the next 12 harrowing years of his
life as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. During this time he
was frequently abused and often afraid for his life. After regaining his
freedom in 1853, Northup decided to publish this gripping
autobiographical account of his captivity.
As an educated man, Northup was able to present an exceptionally
detailed and accurate description of slave life and plantation society.
Indeed, this book is probably the fullest, most realistic picture of the
peculiar institution during the three decades before the Civil War.
Moreover, Northup tells his story both from the viewpoint of an
outsider, who had experienced 30 years of freedom and dignity in the
United States before his capture, and as a slave, reduced to total
bondage and submission. Very few personal accounts of American slavery
were written by slaves with a similar history.
Published in 1853, Northup's book found a ready audience and almost
immediately became a bestseller. Aside from its vivid depiction of the
detention, transportation, and sale of slaves, Twelve Years a Slave is
admired for its classic accounts of cotton and sugar production, its
uncannily precise recall of people, times, and places, and the
compelling details that re-create the daily routine of slaves in the
Gulf South. 7 illustrations. Index.
(R)
