Slave narratives comprise a prominent tradition of American literature, shaping the form and themes of some of the most celebrated and controversial writing in the country's history. The first slave narrative to become an international bestseller was the 'Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano', which introduced the slave ship through the innocent perspective of an African captive. With the rise of the abolition movement in the early nineteenth century, there was a demand for hard-hitting eyewitness accounts of the harsh realities of slavery. Numerous former slaves published detailed and engaging accounts of their enslavement and daring escapes to freedom. This collection provides the most notable slave narratives published on both sides of the Atlantic, spanning the mid eighteenth century to the modern era. From the innovative brilliance of Henry Brown's escape in a box to Harriet Jacobs' harrowing ordeal of sexual harassment; from Ellen Craft's ingenious impersonation of a white slaver to William Still's heroic accounts of the Underground Railroad; from Solomon Northup's endurance through twelve years of slavery to Douglass' seminal accounts of the slavery institution, these noble men and women have preserved their extraordinary tales of bravery, defiance and hope for countless generations. (Version 1)
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Slave Narrative authors
* Concise introductions to all the texts
* 44 separate books, with individual contents tables
* Rare accounts appearing for the first time in digital publishing
* Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Easily locate the stories you want to read
* Includes the complete WPA Slave Narrative Collection, completed during the Great Depression, preserving over 2,300 accounts- available in no other collection
* Ordering of texts into chronological order
CONTENTS:
The Narratives
A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1772)
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789)
A Narrative of the Life and Adventures (1798) by Venture Smith
The Blind African Slave (1810) by Benjamin F. Prentiss
The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher (1811)
Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave (1825)
A Narrative of Some Remarkable Incidents in the Life of Solomon Bayley (1825)
Slavery in the United States (1836) by Charles Ball
A Narrative of Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper from American Slavery (1837)
Recollections of Slavery by a Runaway Slave (1838) by James Matthews
The Narrative of Lunsford Lane (1842)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)
Narratives of the Sufferings of Lewis and Milton Clarke (1846)
Narrative of William Wells Brown (1847)
and many more - too many to list
WPA Slave Narrative Collection (1938)
