Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Douglass, Frederick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014039012X ISBN 13: 9780140390124

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1982

Synopsis

Published in 1845, this autobiography powerfully details the life of the internationally famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass from his birth into slavery in 1818 to his escape to the North in 1838 - how he endured the daily physical and spiritual brutalities of his owners and drivers, how he learned to read and write, and how he grew into a man who could only live free or die. In his introduction, Houston A. Baker, Jr., discusses the slave narrative as a distinct American literary genre and points out its social, political, historical, and literary significance, past and present.

About this title

Review:

"Slavery, color, racism and the struggle for equal rights all come together in the Douglass story...a declaration of freedom by a runaway slave that became a powerful antislavery tract" (New York Times)

"Frederick Douglass has been hailed as one of history's most inspirational leaders and is a personal hero of Barack Obama who called him "the father of the civil rights movement"" (Mirror)

"His life retains an emblematic glow transcending its biographical ingredients" (Independent)

Review:

Review of the 1st edition

'This is a book that should be on the reading list of every course on American history or literature...with its excellent notes, bibliography and appendices, this supersedes other versions available in paperback.' - Adam Lively, Times Educational Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 014039012X
• ISBN 13: 9780140390124
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Baker Houston