Other editions of book Twelve Years a Slave

The basis for the Academy Award®-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.®

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The story that inspired the major motion picture produced by Brad Pitt, directed by Steve McQueen, and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, and Benedict Cumberbatch, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing, vividly detailed, and utterly unforgettable account of slavery. This beautifully designed ebook edition of Twelve Years a Slave features an introduction by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, the bestselling author of Wench.Solomon Northup was an entrepreneur and dedicated family man, father to three young children, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo. What little free time he had after long days of manual and farm labor, he spent reading books and playing the violin. Though his father was born into slavery, Solomon was born and lived free. In March 1841, two strangers approached Northup, offering him employment as a violinist in a town hundreds of miles away from his home in Saratoga Springs, New York. Solomon bid his wife farewell until his return. Only after he was drugged and bound, did he realize the strangers were kidnappers—that nefarious brand of criminals in the business of capturing runaway and free blacks for profit. Thus began Northup's life as a slave. Dehumanized, beaten, and worked mercilessly, Northup suffered all the more wondering what had become of his family. One owner was savagely cruel and Northup recalls he was "indebted to him for nothing, save undeserved abuse." Just as he felt the summer of his life fade and all hope nearly lost, he met a kind-hearted stranger who changed the course of his life. With its first-hand account of this country's Peculiar Institution, this is a book no one interested in American history can afford to miss.

Unabridged value reproduction of Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, including the six original images. He was born free, kidnapped into slavery, and made his way back to freedom. This is his story. This is his voice. Northup describes with stark detail his process into slavery through Washington D.C., “The voices of patriotic representatives boasting of freedom and equality, and the rattling of the poor slave’s chains, almost commingled. A slave pen within the very shadow of the Capitol!” This is his inspirational life that was made into a movie that won the 2014 Best Picture Academy Award, now offered in this unabridged, affordably printed volume.

The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup, a free African-American living in New York in 1841, who was kidnapped, sold into slavery, and subjected to unimaginable degradation and abuse until his rescue 12 years later.This moving and utterly brutal book is a harrowing account of his life in the sugar and cotton plantations of Louisiana, subject to varying degrees of savagery and abuse by a series of owners. Against all odds, Northup eventually manages to get word to his family – and the ensuing rescue from the drunken and sadistic Mr Epps and subsequent legal cases are no less shocking than the rest of the tale.Northup’s meticulous first-hand recordings of slave life, written in conjunction with a white lawyer called David Wilson, provide a true-life testament to tremendous courage and resolve in the face of unspeakable injustice.Now a major Hollywood film, nominated for Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards, and directed by Steve McQueen – starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch.“It is better than the film … A testament to the glory of the human spirit in triumph over the worst of human abuse.” - Daily Telegraph

Twelve Years a Slave tells the remarkable true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped in Washington D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery—for twelve years.This edition includes the complete unabridged text of his firsthand narrative, as well as the original illustrations throughout. It has been elegantly formatted for ease of reading on your Kindle device.Also included are special features such as a list of depictions of slavery on film, and links to free, full-length audio recordings of Twelve Years a Slave, as well as other slave narratives.Prepare yourself for this remarkable account of the human spirit overcoming the odds in a world of intolerable cruelty and abuse, a world we have left behind, but one we would be unwise to forget.

This unforgettable memoir was the basis for the Academy Award-winning film 12 Years a Slave. This is the true story of Solomon Northup, who was born and raised as a freeman in New York. He lived the American dream, with a house and a loving family - a wife and two kids. Then one day he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in the deep south. These are the true accounts of his twelve hard years as a slave - many believe this memoir is even more graphic and disturbing than the film. His extraordinary journey proves the resiliency of hope and the human spirit despite the most grueling and formidable of circumstances.

Now a Major Motion PictureTwelve Years a Slave tells the remarkable true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped in Washington D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery—for twelve years. Included this edition of 12 Years a Slave are:• The complete unabridged text of Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave, as well as the original classic illustrations, perfectly formatted for your Kindle reader.• Four additional slave narratives, including Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.• Links to free, full-length audio recordings of the narratives included in this collection.• An individual, active Table of Contents for each book accessible from the Kindle "go to" feature.• Perfect formatting in rich text compatible with Kindle's Text-to-Speech features.• A low, can't-say-no price!Five Complete WorksFive remarkable accounts of slavery in America. Works included:• Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup* includes original illustrations!• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe* includes original illustrations by Hammatt Billings!• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs• Up From Slavery by Booker T. WashingtonAdditional Resources:• A comprehensive list of the many film and television adaptations of the slave narratives included, as well as additional list of depictions of slavery in film.• Links to free, full-length audio recordings of the narratives included in this collection, as well as other slave narratives by other authors.

First Published in 1853 in the year after his release, Twelve Years a Slave is the personal narrative of Solomon Northup, a free man and violin player from New York, who also happened to be black. On a trip to Washington to earn money playing music he was kidnapped, brought South and sold into slavery, where he spent twelve awful years in bondage before his eventual rescue.In this coruscating and unflinching memoir Northup reveals the true horrors of slavery from the perspective of a man who has lived his life in freedom, leaving a wife and family behind him. From the slave markets to the plantations, through a the differing regimes of a variety of slave-owners, Northup details the appalling treatment of his fellow human beings in a book that was quickly championed by abolitionist groups after it's publication in 1853.This book has recently been made into a major motion picture.Included:- Full original text (including Appendices)- Interactive Table of Contents for ease of Navigation