Now a major motion picture directed by Steve McQueen and starring Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Paul Giamatti12 Years a Slave is a riveting true account of a free man captured and sold into slavery in the pre–Civil War South. Solomon Northup’s narrative explores one of the darkest times in American history and captures in vivid detail the unimaginable realities of slavery. In 1841, the educated musician Solomon Northup, a free man living in New York who is cruelly deceived by the promise of a job in Washington, is drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. Once Solomon arrives in New Orleans, he is given a slave name and soon realizes that any mention of his rights as a free man is sure to bring cruel punishment or death. Denied his freedom and ripped away from his family, he spends twelve emotionally and physically gruelling years on a Louisiana cotton plantation enduring the hardships and brutalities of life as a slave. When Solomon eventually finds a sympathizing friend, a daring rescue is attempted that could either end in Solomon’s death or restore his freedom and reunite him with his family. When Solomon Northup published this harrowing account of slavery in 1853, it immediately stirred up controversy in the national debate over slavery, helping to sway public opinion in favour of abolition. His book 12 Years a Slave remains one of the most insightful, detailed, and eloquent depictions of slavery in America. It demonstrates the extraordinary resilience of one man’s spirit in the face of extreme suffering and his incredible will to survive. **
Review
''Its truth is far greater than fiction.'' -- Frederick Douglass , writer, former slave, and abolitionist
''A moving, vital testament to one of slavery's 'many thousands gone' who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation. It is also a chilling insight into the 'peculiar institution.' '' -- Saturday Review
''I can never read his account of his days in slavery, of his independence of spirit, of his determination to be free . . . without believing that it would make a difference in today's world if our contemporaries knew of such a man as Solomon Northup.'' --Dr. John Hope Franklin, past president of the American Historical Association, bestselling author, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
''The extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press.'' -- Detroit Tribune (1853)
''Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated.'' -- Cincinnati Journal (1853)
''(Audiobook narrator) Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power.'' -- *AudioFile*
''The extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press.'' -- Detroit Tribune (1853)
''Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated.'' -- Cincinnati Journal (1853)
''(Audiobook narrator) Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power.'' -- *AudioFile*
''The extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press.'' -- Detroit Tribune (1853)
''Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated.'' -- Cincinnati Journal (1853)
''(Audiobook narrator) Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power.'' -- *AudioFile*
From the Author
Solomon Northup was an African American abolitionist, farmer, and professional violinist. He was a free man before he was kidnapped and forced into slavery for twelve years. He is the primary author of Twelve Years a Slave , which details the horrific miscarriages of justice and oppression that he endured. After regaining his freedom and reuniting with his family, Northup became a well-respected activist and lecturer in the abolitionist movement. In the summer of 1857, after a series of lectures in Canada, he disappeared. Neither his cause of death nor his whereabouts have ever been uncovered.
Description:
1 Bestseller
Now a major motion picture directed by Steve McQueen and starring Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Paul Giamatti 12 Years a Slave is a riveting true account of a free man captured and sold into slavery in the pre–Civil War South. Solomon Northup’s narrative explores one of the darkest times in American history and captures in vivid detail the unimaginable realities of slavery. In 1841, the educated musician Solomon Northup, a free man living in New York who is cruelly deceived by the promise of a job in Washington, is drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. Once Solomon arrives in New Orleans, he is given a slave name and soon realizes that any mention of his rights as a free man is sure to bring cruel punishment or death. Denied his freedom and ripped away from his family, he spends twelve emotionally and physically gruelling years on a Louisiana cotton plantation enduring the hardships and brutalities of life as a slave. When Solomon eventually finds a sympathizing friend, a daring rescue is attempted that could either end in Solomon’s death or restore his freedom and reunite him with his family. When Solomon Northup published this harrowing account of slavery in 1853, it immediately stirred up controversy in the national debate over slavery, helping to sway public opinion in favour of abolition. His book 12 Years a Slave remains one of the most insightful, detailed, and eloquent depictions of slavery in America. It demonstrates the extraordinary resilience of one man’s spirit in the face of extreme suffering and his incredible will to survive. **
Review
''Its truth is far greater than fiction.'' -- Frederick Douglass , writer, former slave, and abolitionist
''A moving, vital testament to one of slavery's 'many thousands gone' who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation. It is also a chilling insight into the 'peculiar institution.' '' -- Saturday Review
''I can never read his account of his days in slavery, of his independence of spirit, of his determination to be free . . . without believing that it would make a difference in today's world if our contemporaries knew of such a man as Solomon Northup.'' --Dr. John Hope Franklin, past president of the American Historical Association, bestselling author, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
''The extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press.'' -- Detroit Tribune (1853)
''Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated.'' -- Cincinnati Journal (1853)
''(Audiobook narrator) Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power.'' -- *AudioFile*
''The extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press.'' -- Detroit Tribune (1853)
''Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated.'' -- Cincinnati Journal (1853)
''(Audiobook narrator) Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power.'' -- *AudioFile*
''The extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press.'' -- Detroit Tribune (1853)
''Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated.'' -- Cincinnati Journal (1853)
''(Audiobook narrator) Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power.'' -- *AudioFile*
From the Author
Solomon Northup was an African American abolitionist, farmer, and professional violinist. He was a free man before he was kidnapped and forced into slavery for twelve years. He is the primary author of Twelve Years a Slave , which details the horrific miscarriages of justice and oppression that he endured. After regaining his freedom and reuniting with his family, Northup became a well-respected activist and lecturer in the abolitionist movement. In the summer of 1857, after a series of lectures in Canada, he disappeared. Neither his cause of death nor his whereabouts have ever been uncovered.