Synopses & Reviews
After living as a free man for the first thirty-three years of his life, Solomon Northup was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, leaving behind a wife and three children in New York. Sold to a Louisiana plantation owner who was also a Baptist preacher, Northup proceeded to serve several masters, some who were brutally cruel and others whose humanity he praised. After years of bondage, he met an outspoken abolitionist from Canada who notified Northup's family of his whereabouts, and he was subsequently rescued by an official agent of the state of New York. Twelve Years a Slave is his account of this unusual series of events. Northup describes life on cotton and sugar cane plantations in meticulous detail. One slave narrative scholar calls his narrative one of the most detailed and realistic portraits of slave life. He also leavens his account with wry humor and cultural commentary, making many parts of the narrative read more like travel writing than abolitionist literature. Twelve Years a Slave presents the remarkable story of a free man thrown into a hostile and foreign world, who survived by his courage and cunning.
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Review
“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 ReviewReview
“For sheer drama, few accounts of slavery match Solomon Northups tale of abduction from freedom and forcible enslavement.”
—Ira Berlin, from the Introduction
“A moving, vital testament to one of slaverys ‘many thousands gone who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation. It is also a chilling insight into the ‘peculiar institution.” —Saturday Review
Review
and#8220;For sheer drama, few accounts of slavery match Solomon Northupand#8217;s tale of abduction from freedom and forcible enslavement.and#8221;
and#8212;Ira Berlin, from the Introduction
and#8220;A moving, vital testament to one of slaveryand#8217;s and#8216;many thousands goneand#8217; who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation. It is also a chilling insight into the and#8216;peculiar institution.and#8217;and#8221; and#8212;Saturday Review
Review
“I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Franks Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before. . . . The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity. . . . I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage. Solomons bravery and life deserve nothing less.” —Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, from the Foreword Various
Review
and#8220;I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frankand#8217;s
Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before. . . . The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity. . . . I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage.and#160;Solomonand#8217;s bravery and life deserve nothing less.and#8221; and#8212;
Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, from the Foreword
and#8220;Frightening, gripping and inspiring . . . Northupand#8217;s story seems almost biblical, structured as it is as a descent and resurrection narrative of a protagonist who, like Christ, was 33 at the time of his abduction. . . . Northup reminds us of the fragile nature of freedom in any human society and the harsh reality that whatever legal boundaries existed between so-called free states and slave states in 1841, no black man, woman or child was permanently safe.and#8221; and#8212;Henry Louis Gates, Jr., from the Afterword
and#160;
and#8220;For sheer drama, few accounts of slavery match Solomon Northupand#8217;s tale of abduction from freedom and forcible enslavement.and#8221; and#8212;Ira Berlin, from the Introduction
and#8220;If you think the movie offers a terrible-enough portrait of slavery, please, do read the book. . . . The film is stupendous art, but it owes much to a priceless piece of document. Solomon Northupand#8217;s memoir is history. . . . His was not simply an extraordinary story, but an account of the life of a great many ordinary people.and#8221; and#8212;The Daily Beast
and#8220;An incredible document, amazingly told and structured. Tough, but riveting. The movie of it by Steve McQueen might be the most successful adaptation of a book ever undertaken; text and film complement each other wildly.and#8221; and#8212;Rachel Kushner, The New York Times Book Review
and#8220;The best firsthand account of slavery.and#8221; and#8212;James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prizeand#8211;winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, in The New York Times Book Review
and#8220;Northup published a memoir of his 12-year nightmare in 1853, the year after Uncle Tomand#8217;s Cabin came out, and it was so successful that he went on to participate in two stage adaptations. The book dropped from sight in the 20th century, but the movie tie-in will certainly reestablish its virtually unique status as a work by an educated free man who managed to return from slavery.and#8221; and#8212;The Hollywood Reporter
Review
and#8220;I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frankand#8217;s Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before. . . . The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity. . . . I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage.and#160;Solomonand#8217;s bravery and life deserve nothing less.and#8221; and#8212;Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, from the Foreword
Synopsis
Now the major motion picture that won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, and Lupita Nyong'o, and directed by Steve McQueen
Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives,
Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation.
After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. 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.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
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 years 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 published this gripping account of his captivity. As an educated man, Northup was able to present an exceptionally detailed 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. 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. This extraordinary slave narrative, new to Penguin Classics, has a new introduction by prize-winning historian and author Ira Berlin, an an essay by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Synopsis
Now the major motion picture that won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture, starringand#160;Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, andand#160;Lupita Nyongand#8217;o, and directed by Steve McQueen and#160; Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slaveand#160;is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation.
After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. 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.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500and#160;titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theand#160;series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-dateand#160;translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
The official movie tie-in edition to the winner of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture, starringand#160;Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, andand#160;Lupita Nyongand#8217;o, and directed by Steve McQueen and#160;
New York Times bestseller
and#147;I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frankand#8217;s Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before. . . . The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity. . . . I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage.and#160;Solomonand#8217;s bravery and life deserve nothing less.and#8221; and#151;Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, from the Foreword
and#160;
Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slaveand#160;is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation.
and#160;
After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. 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.
Synopsis
A collection of historic writings from the slave-owner-turned-abolitionist sisters portrayed in Sue Monk Kidds novel The Invention of Wings Sarah and Angelina Grimkés portrayal in Sue Monk Kidds latest novel, The Invention of Wings, has brought much-deserved new attention to these inspiring Americans. The first female agents for the American Anti-Slavery Society, the sisters originally rose to prominence after Angelina wrote a rousing letter of support to renowned abolitionist William Garrison in the wake of Philadelphias pro-slavery riots in 1935. Born into Southern aristocracy, the Grimkés grew up in a slave-holding family. Hetty, a young house servant, whom Sarah secretly taught to read, deeply influenced Sarah Grimkés life, sparking her commitment to anti-slavery activism. As adults, the sisters embraced Quakerism and dedicated their lives to the abolitionist and womens rights movements. Their appeals and epistles were some of the most eloquent and emotional arguments against slavery made by any abolitionists. Their words, greeted with trepidation and threats in their own time, speak to us now as enduring examples of triumph and hope.
Synopsis
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson,
Brad Pitt, and Alfre Woodard, this tie-in edition features a foreword from acclaimed director Steve McQueen and#160;
Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slaveand#160;is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation.
and#160;
After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. 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.
About the Author
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Africana Studies at Cornell University, and also tenured at Yale, Duke, and Harvard, where he was appointed W.E.B. DuBois professor of humanities in 1991. Professor Gates is the author of Figures in Black: Words, Signs, and the Racial Self, Wonders of the African World, The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man, Loose Cannons: Notes on the Culture Wars, and Colored People: A Memoir. With Cornel West, he co-wrote The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country and The Future of the Race. He is also the editor of the critically-acclaimed edition of Our Nig, an annotated reprint of Harriet E. Wilson’s 1859 novel, The Slave’s Narrative (with the late Charles T. Davis), Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience, Six Women’s Slave Narratives, and In the House of Oshugbo: Critical Essays on Wole Soyinka. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Prize.