Other editions of book Twelve Years a Slave

This edition includes 10 unique illustrations and an active table of contents.After being born a free man in Upstate New York, Solomon Northup was tricked into capture by two white men who then sold him into slavery in 1841. From there, as detailed in his compelling memoir Twelve Years a Slave, Northup faced considerable cruelties and privations at the hands of his owners, from whom he kept the truth of his life before enslavement. Published less than a decade before the first shot of the Civil War and in the year prior to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Northup’s account contributed yet another compelling voice to the abolitionist cause.

Now a major motion picture! (This edition has the illustrations used in the original 1853 published book.)Twelve Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northrup a free black man living in 19th century New York State with his wife and children -- until he was kidnapped in 1841 shipped down South and sold into slavery. He spent 12 years long torturous years in bondage -- working on plantations, picking cotton -- before finally being able to reclaim his freedom. In Twelve Years a Slave, Northrup describes the horror he endured himself, and the atrocities he witnessed during his enslavement.

Unabridged value reproduction of Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, including the six original illustrations. 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.

When Solomon Northup, born a free black man in Saratoga, New York, was offered a short-term job with a circus in Washington, D.C., in 1841, he jumped at the opportunity. But when he arrived, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana. Finally, with the help of a Canadian abolitionist, he was rescued and reunited with his family in New York. In this memoir published in 1853, Northup tells the incredible story of his 12 years as a slave.Lexile score: 1200L

The Premier Edition of "Twelve Years a Slave"Enjoy this new release of "Twelve Years a Slave" for Kindle. You won't find a better price or higher-quality version on Amazon. This edition includes:The full text of "Twelve Years a Slave"The original high-quality illustrationsThe full text of "The Kidnapping Case", an extended New York Times article from 1853 about Solomon Northup's storyLinks to additional internet resources about Solomon Northup, including an active Facebook page with regular links to new articlesClean formatting, with the ability to adjust fonts and text sizeAn active table of contents for easily moving around in the book"Twelve Years a Slave" tells the remarkable true story of Solomon Northup, a free man born in New York State who was deceived, drugged, and kidnapped in 1941, taken into slavery for a period of twelve years in Louisiana before the Civil War. The book became a bestseller and played an important part in helping educate Americans about the plight of slavery.

Twelve Years a Slave (1853; sub-title: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana), by Solomon Northup as told to David Wilson, is a memoir of a black man who was born free in New York state but kidnapped, sold into slavery and kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before the American Civil War. He provided details of slave markets in Washington, DC, as well as describing at length cotton cultivation on major plantations in Louisiana.Published soon after Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Northup's book sold 30,000 copies and was considered a bestseller. It went through several editions in the nineteenth century. Supporting Stowe's fictional narrative in detail, Northup’s first-hand account of his twelve years of bondage proved another bombshell in the national political debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War, drawing endorsements from major Northern newspapers, anti-slavery organizations, and evangelical groups. After several editions in the 19th Century, the book fell into obscurity for nearly 100 years, until it was re-discovered by two Louisiana historians, Dr. Sue Eakin (Louisiana State University at Alexandria) and Dr. Joseph Logsdon (University of New Orleans). In the early 1960s they researched and retraced Solomon Northup’s journey and co-edited a historically annotated version that was published by LSU Press in 1968. A 2013 feature film based on the story and directed by Steve McQueen was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures on October 18, 2013.

The story that inspired the major motion picture, with an introduction by the bestselling author of Wench, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing, vividly detailed, and utterly unforgettable account of slavery.The story that inspired the major motion picture, with an introduction by the bestselling author of Wench, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing, vividly detailed, and utterly unforgettable account of slavery.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 horrific 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 kindhearted stranger who changed the course of his life.With its firsthand account of this country's Peculiar Institution, this is a book no one interested in American history can afford to miss.

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup is a memoir of a black man who was born free in New York state but kidnapped, sold into slavery and kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before the American Civil War. He provided details of slave markets in Washington, DC, as well as describing at length cotton cultivation on major plantations in Louisiana.

* Illustrated with the original illustrations The most credible and telling contemporaneous portrait of American slavery. In 1841, Solomon Northup was betrayed, kidnapped, and sold as a slave in the pre-Civil War South. This is the true, shocking story of the twelve years Northup spent in slavery. A testimony to the strength of one man's spirit and his remarkable will to survive. The compelling story which inspired the 2013 movie.

In 1841, free-born African American Solomon Northup was offered a job in his hometown of Saratoga Springs, New York. He followed his employers to the job site at Washington, D.C., where he was beaten, drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, eventually ending up on a plantation in Louisiana owned by Edwin Epps. While there, in 1852, Northup befriended Canadian carpenter Samuel Bass, who was at the time doing work for Epps. Secretly, Bass was able to contact Northup's family, who informed New York governor Washington Hunt of his kidnapping. The state was able to use a law passed in 1840 that allowed the recovery of free black men who were sold into slavery to rescue Northup. Solomon was finally made free again on January 4, 1853. One of few slaves of his era ever to regain freedom, he devoted his time and energy to lecturing and educating others about abolitionism. His memoir of the experience, Twelve Years a Slave, was published in 1853, during his first year back as a free man. Twelve Years a Slave, a best-seller in its time, became a major motion picture with an all-star cast in October 2013, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, Brad Pitt as Samuel Bass, and Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps. Cosimo Classics is now presenting a paperback and hard cover jacketed republication of the original edition.

Special "Big Screen Edition" contains added BONUS content not found in other books!Now a Major Motion Picture!Read the book that inspired this year's Academy Award favorite movie starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Michael K. Williams, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberpatch, Paul Giamatti, and Brad Pitt."12 Years a Slave" is the breathtaking memoir of a Solomon Northup - a free man kidnapped into slavery in 1851.In Upstate New York, black freeman Solomon Northup, a skilled carpenter and fiddler, is approached by two circus promoters who offer him a brief, high-paying job with their traveling circus.Without informing his wife, who is away at work in the next town, he travels with the strangers towards Washington DC in good spirits. One morning, he wakes to find himself drugged, bound, and in the cell of a slave pen. When Northup asserts his rights as a freeman, he is beaten and warned never again to mention his free life in New York.Transported by ship to New Orleans, Northup and other enslaved blacks contract smallpox and some die. In transit, Northup implores a sympathetic sailor to send a letter to his family. The letter arrives safely, but, lacking knowledge of his final destination, Northup's family is unable to effect his rescue.Northup's first owner is William Ford, a cotton planter on a bayou of the Red River, and he subsequently has several other owners during his twelve-year bondage. At times, his carpentry and other skills mean he is treated relatively well, but he also suffers extreme cruelty. On two occasions, he is attacked by a man who is to become his owner, John Tibeats, and finds himself unable to resist retaliating, for which he suffers great reprisals. Later he is sold to Edwin Epps, a notoriously cruel planter, who gives Northup the role of driver, requiring him to oversee the work of fellow slaves and punish them for undesirable behavior.Never, in almost 12 years, does he reveal his true history to a single slave or owner. Finally he confides his story in Samuel Bass, a white carpenter from Canada. Bass sends a letter to Northup’s wife, who calls on Henry Northup, a white attorney whose family once held and then freed Solomon Northup's father.Henry Northup contacts New York state officials and the governor appoints him as an agent to travel to Louisiana and free Solomon Northup. He succeeds, and Solomon Northup leaves the plantation. After instigating a court case against the men who sold him into slavery, Northup is reunited with his family in New York.Originally published in 1853, "12 Years a Slave" quickly became a best-seller upon it's release.Northup’s first-hand account of his twelve years of bondage proved another bombshell in the national political debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War, drawing endorsements from major Northern newspapers, anti-slavery organizations, and evangelical groups.