Twelve Years a Slave (African American)

Born a free man in New York in 1808, Solomon Northrup was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841. He spent the next 12 years as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After regaining his freedom in 1853, he published this gripping autobiographical account of his captivity. As an educated man, he was able to present a detailed and accurate picture of slave life and plantation society, from simultaneous outsider and insider perspectives. This is an unabridged Dover republication of the work first reprinted by Dover Publications, New York, in 1970. The original edition was published by Derby and Miller, Auburn, New York, 1853. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)