Twelve Years a Slave
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4.6 • 441 Ratings
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Publisher Description
An Apple Books Classic edition.
In 1841, Solomon Northup was a free, educated Black man living in Saratoga Springs, New York—until the day that two men kidnapped him and sold him into slavery in Louisiana. This is Northup’s account of those years, when he learned about “the measure of ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’” Northup endured unconscionable mental and physical abuse, but he never lost hope that his family would rescue him…if he could just find a way to contact them.
Twelve Years a Slave was published as abolitionists throughout the U.S. were campaigning to end slavery, and it has stood the test of time as a blistering indictment of slavery. In 2013, Northup’s story was adapted into an award-winning movie. Northup’s story remains important—and the question he addresses to us readers continues to resonate: “What difference is there in the color of the soul?”
Customer Reviews
Twelve Years A Slave
Heartbreaking but captivating life story. Gives a realistic point of view of slavery in which we will never truly understand.
Truly Riveting
Of all the books on slavery that I’ve read, this one is the most thrilling by far. It reads like a movie script and you can see why it made it to the big screen. I was blown away by the story of Soloman/Platt and his bondage in Louisiana. He does such a great job of explaining the particulars of slave life, plantation customs, harvests for different crops, and even the geography of the Red River area. The narrative is so compelling, and even though I know he escapes, I found myself honestly worried and surprised throughout the book.
This book is amazing
I don’t enjoy the fact that this actually happened to that poor fellow but his writing is so frickin good usually I quit books halfway thru but I stuck around because he was cooking istg helped me understand the period of slavery so much better