Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
By Frederick Douglass
Why this book?
Anyone wishing to explore the remarkable life of Frederick Douglass needs to start with his own writings, in particular his 1845 autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the book that shot the young abolitionist to fame. While far from the first enslaved person’s narrative to have been printed, it was the best-written and most precise in detail, mixing scenes of great emotional warmth with brutal outrages that shocked contemporary readers. It also revealed Douglass’s real name (Frederick Bailey), leading to death threats and fears of recapture. Having decided to leave America until the furore died down, the 27-year-old Douglass embarked on the transformative near two-year tour of Britain and Ireland that has formed the basis of my recent work.
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