Twelve Years a Slave
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4.5 • 249 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
Eye opening
We need to acknowledge and experience the past if we are to understand the present. There are so many atrocities that have taken place in this country that we simply aren’t present to. The level of description is deafening. I was left speechless to the inhumanities these poor people went through. Solomon constantly refers to slavery as an “institution”. It required the blood of thousands of Americans to deconstruct that institution. Some might even say that institution still exists in the form of racism. The way black people are treated in this book are oddly parallel to way they are treated to this very day.
Eye opening
This personal diary of 12 years of slavery of the author was an excellent read for me. Raised in the South I grew up with a “mixed” perspective of slavery. My mother was a Yankee. My father experienced first hand discrimination of black and red men. He was a high ranking officer during the integration of the military in 1947-48. I observed many signs of discrimination while growing up. But never knew many of the intimate details described in this book. It should be required reading at the high school level.
Good book, >Historical.
Slavery ended 164 years ago. The Civil War was fought to ensure it truly was abolished. The last vestiges of social prejudice were overcome in the 1960s, in what’s called the Civil Rights movement. It’s curious why, with so many victories behind us, and the black population so upwardly mobile today, anyone wants to resurrect the dead past.
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