Equiano, Olaudah

The Life of Olaudah Equiano (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Historical Document about Slavery
Packaging
an 18th century spiritual and political autobiography
allows for personal reflection....
An early English novel, with a twist.

The Life of Olaudah Equiano (Dover Thrift Editions)
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 048640661X

Book Description

Compelling work traces the formidable journey of an Igbo prince from captivity to freedom and literacy and recounts his enslavement in the New World, service in the Seven Years War, voyages to the Arctic, 6 months among the Miskito Indians in Central America, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Historical Document about Slavery.......2007-03-04

In the later parts of 1700s some opposition of slavery was developed due to horrendous accounts given by merchants and slaves, like Equiano. That was the first time in history when opposition of slavery grew. And this is one of them.

This book gives account of the life of a slave. Before he gets kidnapped, he gives some accounts of slavery back in Africa, which is a lot different than the ones in Americas or England.

Many people who have read this book said it's either BORING or VERY INTERESTING. I think this book is interesting, though, but I can't consider it as a favorite book of mine. It has hard to read; lots of big words. There's also a lot of switch-back-and-forths between where events take place and I couldn't really keep it up. Maybe because I was reading too fast or maybe because I wasn't following too well.

This book is like a life of a slave. BUT NOT the kind of slave that you would expect. It has no similarities compared to Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. It's totally a different account. So if you expect to read a horrific story about slavery in Americas, don't choose this one. This book will give you a pretty good idea of how Africans were treated. (A lot of times this story takes place on a ship.)

Packaging.......2005-09-20

The item was fine, but why did it have to be packed in such a big box. It did not fit in the mail box so it had to be picked up at the post office. Smaller packaging please, otherwise, everything was fine.

an 18th century spiritual and political autobiography.......2003-12-16

As an American who has grown up hearing and learning about slavery and the slave trade in the US, and mainly in the 19th century, I appreciated the insight Equiano's book gives into the institution from other parts of the world, and in particular how racism evolved within an institution that had been taken for granted for centuries and had not been particularly racist.

It is not the narrative of a victim. Not only does Equiano purchase his freedom halfway through the book, but also you can tell from the incidents he describes and from reading between the lines that he was a strong, even pugnacious person who didn't take any guff from people he did not respect. He was pragmatic, ambitious, and a fighter. While he accepted the social hierarchies of the time, including slavery itself until the latter part of his life, he shows no humility (except in terms of his spiritual condition). When he proposes to another person that he work for him as a servant, you get the feeling that he has just given that person an honor.

Equiano's autobiography is important for many other reasons. It is very much a book of its time, the late 18th century, when spiritual autobiographies were important both to the writers and the readers. (Make sure that when you buy an edition of this book you do not buy an edition that has been abridged, as the account of Equiano's religious/spiritual development is what has been cut, making hamburger of what remains). He has wonderful, sometimes acid, comments, to make on the churches he observes at the time. For example, here's his comment on a church service run by the Rev. George Whitfield, at which people are crowding out into the yard and standing on ladders to see into the church: "When I got into the church I saw this pious man exhorting the people with the greatest fervor and earnestness, and sweating as much as ever I did while in slavery....I thought it strange I had never seen divines exert themselves in this manner before; and was no longer at a loss to account for the thin congregations they preached to."

Equiano's autobiography is also a tale of his adventures: he served on board battle and merchant ships much of the time and saw action during the French and Indian war. He was also part of Phipps' search for a passge to India through the north pole, where their ship was frozen in ice just as Shackleford's was two centuries later.

And finally, Equiano's life and story become entwined with the British abolition movement. His book was intended to serve the movement, raising revulsion by demonstrating the cruel and unethical practices that rose from slavery and appealing to logic and the reader's sense of shame. He is one of the earliest writers to point out a psychological blindess in slave holders, the denial and the double vision they had to develop in order to justify themselves. The very existence of the book, written by a literate, very bright, and comfortably wealthy former slave put the lie to the racist arguments that Africans were best suited to slavery. And in one part of the book that is reminiscent of Mary Wollestonecraft, he speaks passionately that the ignorance and helplessness that was so striking in so many slaves had nothing to do with nature, and everything to do with social conditioning.

allows for personal reflection...........2002-12-25

It is hard to rate a book like this...

You must read it if you're even considering it and once you've read it, you should pass it on to someone else. Life dishes us a lot. Life dishes out some people more hardship than others and sometimes we get the opportunity to give ourselves and those we love a chance at a better life. Not only does this book tell a wonderful story of a man who found strength most of us never realize we possess, but in doing so - has proven the power of language, written and spoken. The world can be full of possobilities in even the most impossible situations - to say nothing of the horror we inflict upon each other...but that's another story.

An early English novel, with a twist........2002-02-20

This book has less to do with slavery and more to do with the quest for middle-class status in England. For comparison, one should also read "ROBINSON CRUSOE" by Daniel Defoe and "PAMELA" by Samuel Richardson.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself

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Olaudah, an African Heart.
Response to Robert Allison
Response to Robert Allison
caveat emptor

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: Bedford/St. Martin's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312442033

Book Description

Widely admired for its vivid accounts of the slave trade, Olaudah Equiano's autobiography -- the first slave narrative to attract a significant readership -- reveals many aspects of the eighteenth-century Western world through the experiences of one individual. The second edition reproduces the original London printing, supervised by Equiano in 1789. Robert J. Allison's introduction, which places Equiano's narrative in the context of the Atlantic slave trade, has been revised and updated to reflect the heated controversy surrounding Equiano's birthplace, as well as the latest scholarship on Atlantic history and the history of slavery. Improved pedagogical features include contemporary illustrations with expanded captions and a map showing Equiano's travels in greater detail. Helpful footnotes provide guidance throughout the eighteenth-century text, and a chronology and an up-to-date bibliography aid students in their study of this thought-provoking narrative.

Customer Reviews:

Olaudah, an African Heart........2005-11-10

Olaudah Equiano's narrative is his experience away from his dear home. The slave trade from the very beginning was one of the worst components of European history. This narrative is a moving but important historical document that recounts the hardship the slaves had to endure and survive in their nightmare to the New World.

"In this way I grew up till I had turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness..."(p.47). This way began the Olaudah's odyssey after been kidnapped and taken through many African countries reaching finally the African west coast and the slave ship that brought him/them to the West Indies and North America.

Africa, as the land of Equiano, was divided among different tribes with different organizations and related customs, in some cases speaking similar languages, in other cases as we see in the towns close to the coast, almost strangers. These tribes used to have their own defense system against the hunt and persecution of slave traffickers, which during the XVIII century it was a dark business, a daily affair, and a way of revenue.

That was the circumstance of this little boy and many others like him experiencing 'fatigue and grief'(p.47), 'violence and despair' (p.49), and wishing for death rather than anything else'(p.59). After they reached the slave ship waiting for its human cargo a chained multitude of black people of every description expressing dejection and sorrow (p.54) awaited to board in an overpopulated deck filled with horrors of every kind.

Many, as Equiano, were young and ignorant of what was happening, where they were going, and the reason for such adventure. They were told by other prisoners confessing to be 'carried to white people's country to work for them'(p.55), but of course the pain and suffering yet to come was a disguised mystery and heart destructive lifelong encounter. The living conditions of the journey were brutal and cruel: the smell, the vomiting, the cries, the anguish, and the suffocation under decks overcrowded where many of them were unable to reach the other side of the Atlantic, dying under those inhuman conditions. Sometimes some of them, embracing hopelessness, ran toward the open board and preferring death to such a life of misery, jumped into the sea (p.57), to die in the deep waters of the dark blue sea.
The Mediterranean labor shortage after the 8th century primarily brought about the African external slave trade. But the West Indies European demand for slaves changed all the institution of slavery transforming it in a deadly and huge intensive labor business. Two-thirds of all these immigrant slaves went directly to the Caribbean (Caribbean-West Indies-Brazil), and fewer than 1/20 went to Colonial North America which started 100 years later; and in 1671 we had already in Barbados (where Equiano first experienced the new world)30,000 slaves and 3,000 in Virginia.

A great deal of trembling and bitter cries from these terrified Africans of all languages did not stop whites from transporting them, as in Equiano's case, first to the island of Barbados unloading them at Bridgetown. They were transported to the merchant's yard, like sheep in a fold (p.58) without regard to sex or age. On a sign given to the buyers they run at once toward them and 'picked up' what parcel they like best. Many of them, family and friends, from that very moment were separated forever. Never to see each other again.
From the merchant's yard they were shipped to different North American Colonies as was needed and pleased the slave traders; one after another chapter of disgrace would be recounted over the 'white' shoulders for generations to come. Some slaves, as this poor boy, were taken as servants to England.
The conditions they confronted later on in sugar or rice plantations by their brutal slave codes and violent methods of control were deadly; much of the cases included diseases and no possibility to become free one day. They were treated as cheap merchandise, deprived of any human right given by our Creator.
The story of Olaudah Equiano over moistens my eyes. His narrative and lack of vengeance or hate; his imploration to the heart and the reason of supposed Christians made me feel the need to meet him and embrace him, and tell him: "Hope is not gone at all my friend.
Olaudah young boy, you were right when you cited those true gospel words:
"O, ye nominal Christians! Might not an African ask you--Learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you?"

Alejandro Roque.

Response to Robert Allison.......2000-07-13

The 1772 publication date of Gronniosaw's _Narrative_ seems to have been recently established by Vincent Carretta in _Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century_ (Kentucky, 1996), with the evidence offered on pp. 53-54. The post-1791 editions in which Equiano understandably deletes the wording "My hand is ever free--if any female Debonair wishes to obtain it" after his April 7, 1792 marriage to Susanna Cullen are the 5th (Edinburgh, 1792), the 6th & 7th (both London, 1793), the 8th (Norwich, 1794), and the 9th and last (London, 1794). My source for this information is Vincent Carretta's authoritative Penguin edition of Equiano's _Interesting Narrative_ (1995), pp. 297-297, note 633. A reader from Virginia

Response to Robert Allison.......2000-07-13

caveat emptor.......1999-03-13

Prospective buyers of Mr. Allison's edition of Equiano's autobiography should be advised that although Mr. Allison says that his "edition follows the first American printing . . . (New York, 1791)" and that "the only significant changes . . . are the insertion of paragraph breaks and notes to the text," Mr. Allison does not warn the reader that he's silently combined parts of various editions of the autobiography to form a book Equiano himself never published. For example, if you compare the next-to-the-last paragraph (p. 195), in which Equiano mentions his marriage, to the passage on page 187, where he says his hand is free, you might get the impression that he's saying he's available for adultery or bigamy. But the fault lies not in Equiano, who changed the earlier passage after he added the paragraph about his marriage in 1792. What Mr. Allison gives us is his text, not Equiano's. And he might have mentioned that the New York edition was published without Equiano's knowledge or permission. Readers should also not assume that all "facts" given are true. For example, on page 21, Gronniosaw's book was published in 1772 (not 1770), Marrant's in 1785 (not 1790), and Equiano died on 31 March 1797 (not in April).

The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)

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Beauty from Ashes
Amazing Primary Source History
A fascinating story
Good Book
This book is a gift from a great man who lived 200 years ago

The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)
Olaudah Equiano , and Vincent Carretta
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142437166
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Book Description

An exciting and often terrifying adventure story, as well as an important precursor to such famous nineteenth-century slave narratives as Frederick Douglass's autobiographies, Olaudah Equiano's Narrative recounts his kidnapping in Africa at the age of ten, his service as the slave of an officer in the British Navy, his ten years of labor on slave ships until he was able to purchase his freedom in 1766, and his life afterward as a leading and respected figure in the antislavery movement in England. A spirited autobiography, a tale of spiritual quest and fulfillment, and a sophisticated treatise on religion, politics, and economics, The Interesting Narrative is a work of enduring literary and historical value.

Customer Reviews:

Beauty from Ashes.......2005-09-13

Of all the firsthand accounts known to us as "slave narratives," Vassa's description is unique in many ways. To begin with, he takes his readers all the way back to his African roots, shedding historically-confirmed light on almost lost ancient traditions. His discussion of the harrowing and epically sad capture and separation of he and his sister are among the most moving in this genre.

He then describes the despicable, inhumane conditions in the holds of the slave ships with a "you-are-there" writing style. Again, confirmed by other sources, these are some of the most often quoted accounts in historical texts. In this same chronological phase, Vassa also depicts the shared empathy among the enslave Africans, helping us to see how they collaborated to survive.

His ongoing narrative offers one of the more balanced looks at slavery. Vassa clearly tells the horrors of this evil system and the people responsible for it. At the same time, he often shares accounts of Europeans and White Americans who befriended him. In fact, his positive statements about non-Africans lend further credence to his critique of the many evils of slavery.

His narrative also contains unique elements in his descriptions of his path toward freedom and his life as a freeman. We learn that in his era, for a man of his race, it was barely more tolerable to be free, given the hatred that he still endured.

Though some reviewers tend to minimize or criticize it, his conversion narrative is classic. In fact, it may well have been the standard from which later testimonies were crafted about how "God struck me dead." Perhaps the evangelical nature of his conversion turns off some. However, if we are to engage Vassa in his other accounts, we must engage him here. Further, coming as it did later in his life, it is easy to see how his account of his entire life is entirely shaped by his conversion experience. Clearly, Vassa sees even the evils that he has suffered as part of a larger plan. In doing so he never suggests that God condones the evils of slavery. Rather, he indicates that God created beauty from ashes.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," and of "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."

Amazing Primary Source History.......2005-06-28

Hemingway said of Tillie Olsen's "Tell Me a Riddle" that, however many readers it may have, it will never have enough. He expressed my feelings about this book. Yes, the "Autobiography of Frederick Douglass" is critical to achieve an understanding of the obscenities of black slavery in the New World, but Equiano's remarkable account dramatizes it in ways even more diverse. He summarizes in his single life the whole span of slavery, from his kidnapping as a child from Africa to the fiendish brutality of Caribbean sugar plantations. But he is also a celebration of the indomitability of the human spirit at its most resilient: from his insistence, against all odds, on his own worth as a person, his acquisition of seafaring and business skills, his achievement not only of literacy but of an Englishman's 18th century eloquence.
I didn't think I could learn more about the particular brutalities of slavery, but I did. An example: in the Caribbean some slavemasters "rented out" their slaves by the day to other masters for excruciating toil. Their temporary masters sometimes "forgot" to feed them lunch, and moreover sometimes sent them back to their masters without payment. For retribution, their masters then beat the slaves! This was a new twist for me, and reminded me that the psychological torture--imagining the starved and exhausted slaves returning to their masters, knowing what was awaiting--often outstripped physical torture for cruelty.
But this is no litany of abuses, and Equiano is careful to spare us gratuitous outrages. He lived the equivalent of five or six lives within his timespan, and the book likewise breaks up into episodes: the African years--during which he chronicles a clime of abundant food and privileged childhood; his adventures at sea, serving several captains on mercantile ships that faced enemy fire and perils of every kind; his strivings to buy his freedom in the Caribbean and North America; his conversion to Christianity; and his settling as a freeman in England with marriage to a British wife.
As with most primary source documents, there are lulls in the narrative. The writing about the author as a Christian aware of his "sins" (he who has so overwhelmingly sinned against) is as familiar as it is ironic. Episodes in the seafaring accounts will be of more interest to afficionados of Melville or Conrad. But what is finally amazing is Equiano's moderation and modesty in describing a most remarkable life. One wonders how many hundreds of thousands of uprooted Africans succumbed to the brutalization and denial of their self-worth for every one who managed to salvage some shred of dignity, but one is nevertheless grateful to Equiano for putting his own example in writing.
It is writing for the ages. I wonder whether it should be required reading, for high school students, for example. Perhaps it's a bit too difficult or tedious for everyone in that age group. But at the very least it should be mentioned in the same breath as Douglass's books. I was 62 before I'd even heard Equiano's name. This remarkable account should be better known.

A fascinating story.......2004-08-06

Many people -- including myself -- read science fiction and fantasy novels to see new vistas of the imagination, alien cultures and circumstances in which we could never imagine ourselves. Sometimes we look to distant futures or galaxies without remembering just how alien the planet we live on can be!

Equiano's account -- generally a clear, crisply written and unsentimental account with detailed descriptions of the places he visits, with the occassional sermon or rare florid description (Dr. Charles Irving's device "renders fresh Neptune's briny element") -- shows a whirlwind series of adventures, from his time as an Igbo village prince, to his enslavement and trek to the African coast under a series of masters, to his horrendous voyage across the middle passage, his amazement at the terrifying new world he was brought into, his conversion to Christianity, his service in the Seven Years War, his attempts to buy his freedom, and his varying adventures as a sailor. The account goes on to include his disastrous expedition to the North Pole and subsequent spiritual crisis upon such a close touch with his mortality, his management as a commissar for an attempt to settle freed blacks in Sierra Leonne, and, finally, his marraige (something touched on very cursorily, perhaps because he didn't wish to add too much to new editions of the book, which was initially completed before his marraige, or possibly because he was very busy raising his daughters, lecturing, and testifying for the abolitionist cause).

Some parts of the account seem, perhaps, slightly too convenient. One might be tempted to wonder if Equiano's memories, as a ten year old, of the customs of his people are shaped by his desire to retrospectively turn them into Jews, or if his account of, upon hearing that a book contain words, holding it to his ear is borrowed from countless other accounts of the "primitive" who misunderstands the nature of the written word, or if his account of himself as a determined fighter for the integrity of the Sierra Leone colonization project, undermined by the other corrupt managers of the project, who stole from the Exchequer and undersupplied the intended black colonists isn't a biased portrayal in his favor. Overall, though, the records that have been recovered by historians have been favorable to Equiano's story, and inaccuracies are remarkably rare for a book so extensive and often written from memories thirty-years old.

Good Book.......2002-02-09

This book presents an interesting and unique view into the world of slavery. Buy it...now!

This book is a gift from a great man who lived 200 years ago.......2001-03-22

An amazing story of a young man kidnapped from his African village as a boy, transported to the Caribbean from island to island and his dealings with the people who were in power. How he gained his freedom, then lost it, then gained it again. His struggle to reconcile what the Bible taught about kindness with what he saw the "Christians" actually doing to slaves. This book is essential reading for anyone living in the Caribbean who wants to understand the mental slavery that still exists there to this day. Its THE guide to "self-help" that beats all others. Its the story of a wonderfully determined man.

American Captivity Narratives: Selected Narratives With Introduction (New Riverside Editions)

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Subjective stories of "Captivity" in American Life

American Captivity Narratives: Selected Narratives With Introduction (New Riverside Editions)
Paul Lauter
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0395980739

Book Description

This volume collects a wide variety of works from a uniquely American literary tradition, the captivity narrative. Beginning with an excerpt from Hans Staden's The True History of His Captivity, which influenced the American captivity narrative, this volume presents accounts by early settlers held captive by Native Americans (Mary Rowlandson, John Smith), narratives by African American slaves (Olaudah Equiano, John Marrant), and others. Collected with the real-life accounts are two captivity poems by Lucy Terry and John Rolling Ridge, and several popular tales and legends on the subject.

Customer Reviews:

Subjective stories of "Captivity" in American Life.......2006-01-08

I read this book as part of a English course at UC Berkeley. The two stories that we were 'assigned' were the Rowlandson & Equiano stories. Mary Rowlandson's tale of being the penultimate Puritan Christian who was taken by "savage Indians" is about as far from objectivity as any memoir from George W Bush. Over and over again, she reminds the reader how horrible it was for her to be kidnapped and put to work among the Indians and how great God was to put her in such a challenge. If you are not a hard-lined Christian, you will be hard-pressed to like her narrative as it is far from truth-ful and only expunges stereotypes. The other main story is by Equiano and it is a much better "read" than Rowlandson's tale. However, when one reads Equiano, they get a sense of the veracity of the situation. But most of what Equiano wrote was not truthful at all. But he, as an African-American former slave, is trying to appeal to the slave-holding audience of white America. Either way, this book is so-so. I would never consider it a work of great literary value.

The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Norton Critical Editions)

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Teachers beware--poorly proofread edition!
Interesting indeed, an amazing account of an unusual life

The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Norton Critical Editions)
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393974944

Book Description

Olaudiah Equiano's 1789 narrative tells the remarkable story of his childhood in Africa, his kidnapping and subsequent years as a slave and seaman, and his eventual road to freedom in the Caribbean and in England. The text reprinted here is that of the 1789 first edition. It is accompanied by explanatory annotations, textual notes, and a map of Equiano's travels. "Contexts" provides essential related public writings on the work by James Tobin, Gustavus Vassa (Olaudiah Equiano), and Samuel Jackson Pratt; general and historical background by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Eav Beatrice Dykes, Wylie Sypher, Charles H. Nichols, Nathan I. Huggins, and David Dabydeen; related travel and scientific literature by Anthony Benezet, John Matthews, and John Mitchell; eighteenth-century works by African authors James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, John Marrant, and Quobna Ottabah Cugoano; and English debates about the slave trade by Thomas Clarkson, John Wesley, and William Wilberforce, as well as antislavery verse by Thomas Day and John Bicknell. "Criticism" includes six contemporary reviews of The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudiah Equiano. Nine modern essays are contributed by Paul Edwards, Charles T. Davis, Houston A. Baker, Jr., Angelo Costanzo, Catherine Obianju Acholonu, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Geraldine Murphy, Adam Potkay, and Robert J. Allison. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehenive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

Teachers beware--poorly proofread edition!.......2005-04-13

This review is neither of Equiano's text itself, nor of the editorial material (both are excellent for teaching). When I ordered this text for my class, I was dismayed to discover numerous proofreading errors which generated some confusion among students. These tend not to be mispellings, but much worse: substitutions of one word for another, or omissions of important words, as though the whole text had only been run through a spell-checker. Some of these are embarrassing (Equiano's report of "the mortifying circumference of not daring to eat with the free-born children" [33-34]) and others more serious (the omitted word in the crucial sentence "I own offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a tyrant" in the first paragraph). There is probably one major error for every page of this text. I don't think this has to do with fidelity to the London first edition of 1789, although I haven't checked. The errors seem to have been introduced at Norton. So, sadly, despite Werner Sollors's excellent introduction and the useful maps prefacing the text, I can't recommend this book until Norton gets its act together. Use the texts in either Henry Louis Gates's "Pioneers of the Black Atlantic" or Vincent Carretta's "Unchained Voices" instead--the notes to the latter make it the teaching edition of choice.

Interesting indeed, an amazing account of an unusual life.......2002-07-16

"The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudiah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, written by Himself" is the story of an African man, Olaudiah Equiano (slave name: Gustavus Vassa) who was (evidently) born in 1745 in what is now Nigeria. He was captured by African slave traders, taken to the Atlantic coast, and sold into the slave trade. He was taken to the Caribbean, then Virginia, and eventually Europe. He served a ship's captain and sailed the Mediterranean and on a voyage to explore the North Pole (Greenland). He obtained his freedom and became an author and early anti-slavery activist. The publication of this book made him the best-selling black African author ever (up to that time). This book became a prototype of the "up-from-slavery" autobiography (typified by Frederick Douglass) and is a classic among Atlantic slave narratives.

The book is autobiographical and arranged chronologically, the author detailing events of his African childhood and his years as a slave and eventual self-emancipation. One notable thing about the book is the extent to which it is a travelogue: Equiano clearly enjoys telling travel tales more than decrying the horrors of slavery. His depictions of being a "stranger in a strange land" (e.g., the first time he encounters a clock, a painted portrait, books) are memorable.

The Norton edition is filled with related texts pertaining to Equiano and his times: articles and excerts by other writers about Africa, slavery, abolition, Equiano's birthplace, his literary influences; a useful map; a diagram of a sailing ship, etc. A good choice among several editions of Equiano's book.

The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written By Himself
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The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written By Himself
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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In May 1769, soon after our return from Turkey, our ship made a delightful voyage to Oporto in Portugal, where we arrived at the time of the carnival. On our arrival, there were sent on board to us thirty-six articles to observe, with very heavy penalties if we should break any of them; and none of us even dared to go on board any other vessel or on shore till the Inquisition had sent on board and searched for every thing illegal, especially bibles. Such as were produced, and certain other things, were sent on shore till the ships were going away; and any person in whose custody a bible was found concealed was to be imprisoned and flogged.

Equiano's Travels (African Writers Series)

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History of the others
Well written with attention toward the truth, not opinion.
A must read for anyone interested in the horror of slavery

Equiano's Travels (African Writers Series)
Olaudah Equiano , and Paul Edwards
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0435906003

Book Description

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in a village east of the Niger Riverin what is now Nigeria. At the age of ten, he was captured by slave tradersand taken to the American south where he was sold to a planter in the WestIndies where he worked aboard slave ships sailing between the Caribbeanand England.

By the age of twenty-one, Equiano had saved enough money to buy hisfreedom. He visited the Mediterranean, took part in Phipp's expeditionto the Arctic, and crossed the Atlantic several times. He became an ardentmember of the anti-slavery movement and came to know several of its leaders.

Between1789 and 1827, Equiano's book, The Interesting Narrative ofthe Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African raninto seventeen editions in Britain and the U.S. This slightly abridgededition, now reissued from its first published edition in 1967, keeps inprint a book of great literary and historical importance in the contextof African writing.

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History of the others.......2005-12-29

The African slave trade is one of the great stains of human history. Much has been written about it by European - white authors, though unfortunately, there are very few recollections of the slave trade by actual slaves. This book is one of those works. The author, Olaudah Equiano, was born in Nigeria and captured as a child and sold of to slavery in the New World. He eventually accummulated enough money to free and educate himself, and make his way thru the world as a free man. This book is his story, told by himself. He retells his kidnapping, his trip from Africa to N. America, his service to different masters, how he bought his own freedom, and then his life as a free man. He retells both the punishments he endured, the work he had to do, and the opportunities denied to him while he was a slave. Overall, a good book to read about the life of a slave.

Well written with attention toward the truth, not opinion........2001-03-06

I'm not sure if the person below read the book. Equiano was 11 when he was enslaved.

A must read for anyone interested in the horror of slavery.......1997-12-06

An amazing story of an amazing man. Olaudah Equiano tells the story of his life with such clarity and recollection it is hard to put this book down. A slave, who at the age of 7, was kidnapped from his village in Africa and subsequently enslaved for 11 years until which time he could buy his freedom. His life was filled with both horror and wonder. He witnessed great events and horrific injustices. He tells these tales with clarity and an unusual objectiveness. A boy, who at age 7, did not read or write or even know of the white man. Olaudah grew to learn and have great command of the language in which he would retell his tales. This is not only an impressive work, it is more so coming from a former slave. It is a must read for everyone interested in the struggle for life that these people endured for over two centuries.

Early Black British Writing (New Riverside Editions)

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Olaudah Equiano , Mary Prince , and Houghton Mifflin Company
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One of the most significant developments in current literary studies is the rediscovery and reevaluation of texts by British writers of African descent. This volume combines popular texts with hard-to-find selections in a format that enables students to place them in their historical and cultural contexts. For instructors, the collection offers reliable texts, stimulating context pieces, and the most useful modern critical essays. The book is divided into four sections: Narratives, Poetry, Voices (letters), and Criticism. Native African and African-heritage authors living in Great Britain and British colonies include Ukawasaw Gronniosaw, an African prince; John Jea, a preacher; Mary Prince, a slave living in the West Indies; and Juan Francisco Manzano, a slave living in Cuba.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Gustavus Vassa, The African [EasyRead Edition]
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Gustavus Vassa, The African [EasyRead Edition]
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
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An 18-century best-seller, it is a magnificent revolutionary abolitionist autobiography, a tale of spiritual quest and a treatise on religion, politics and economics written by a former native African slave.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: or, Gustavus Vassa, the African (Modern Library Classics)

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Beauty from Ashes

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: or, Gustavus Vassa, the African (Modern Library Classics)
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375761152
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Book Description

Edited and with Notes by Shelly Eversley
Introduction by Robert Reid-Pharr

In this truly astonishing eighteenth-century memoir, Olaudah Equiano recounts his remarkable life story, which begins when he is kidnapped in Africa as a boy and sold into slavery and culminates when he has achieved renown as a British antislavery advocate. The narrative “is a strikingly beautiful monument to the startling combination of skill, cunning, and plain good luck that allowed him to win his freedom, write his story, and gain international prominence,” writes Robert Reid-Pharr in his Introduction. “He alerts us to the very concerns that trouble modern intellectuals, black, white, and otherwise, on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The text of this Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive ninth edition of 1794, reflecting the author’s final changes to his masterwork.

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Beauty from Ashes.......2005-09-13

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