000 03392cam a2200337 4500
001 4070
005 20181127172546.0
008 120413r20121853nyuag b 001 0aeng
010 _a 2012012550
020 _a9780143106708 (pbk.)
043 _an-us---
_an-us-la
100 1 _aNorthup, Solomon,
_d1808-1863?
245 1 0 _a12 years a slave :
_c
_bA true story /
_cSolomon Northup.
246 _aTwelve years a slave:
_ba true story
_f
_h
_i
_n
_p
260 _aLondon :
_bCollins Classics,
_c2014.
300 _aviii, 278 p. ;
_b
_c20 cm.
490 0 _aPenguin Classics
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 _a""A harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American historyBorn a free man in New York, Solomon Northup was abducted in Washington, D.C., in 1841 and spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, he published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life--perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives. It became an immediate bestseller and today is recognized for its unusual insight and eloquence as one of the very few portraits of American slavery produced by someone as educated as Solomon Northup, or by someone with the dual perspective of having been both a free man and a slave""--
_cProvided by publisher.
520 _a""Born a free man in New York State in 1808, Solomon Northup was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841. He spent the next twelve 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 thirty 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 recreate the daily routine of slaves in the Gulf South""--
_cProvided by publisher.
600 1 0 _aNorthup, Solomon,
_d1808-1863?
650 0 _aAfrican Americans
_vBiography.
650 0 _aPlantation life
_zLouisiana
_xHistory
_y19th century.
650 0 _aSlavery
_zLouisiana
_xHistory
_y19th century.
650 0 _aSlaves
_zUnited States
_vBiography.
650 0 _aSlaves' writings, American.
650 7 _aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs.
_2bisacsh
650 7 _aHISTORY / United States / 19th Century.
_2bisacsh
650 7 _aSOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies.
_2bisacsh
700 1 _aGates, Henry Louis,
_cJr.
999 _c3332
_d3332