Twelve Years a Slave (Illustrated with Historic Engravings)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF BEST PICTURE AWARD AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS. Twelve Years a Slave is a dramatic memoir by a former American slave, Solomon Northup. Beginning in 1853, the book was published repeatedly during the antebellum, or pre-Civil War, era of the United States. As a classic “slave narrative,” the book is a powerful political tract against slavery. It melds the richness of a Victorian novel with deeply religious Protestant themes.

The storyline is stark, grim, and all too true. Fraudsters lure a middle-class black man from New York to Washington, D.C. Once there, a well-organized gang imprisons the victim and sells him into slavery. He is dispatched hundreds of miles into the Deep South, and ever hellish working conditions. Surrounded by the dangerous swamps of Louisiana, and hounded by vigilantes, escape is impossible, except by death. For twelve years, Solomon Northup struggles to maintain his sanity--and his humanity--while praying for deliverance by the Almighty--which comes in miraculous fashion.

This edition by Boston Hill Press is a Classic Quality E-book and features:
-historic text & illustrations from the Library of Congress
-striking original cover design
-beautifully restored 19th-century engravings
-”point & click” table of contents
-full Kindle navigation, e.g., search, “go to”, etc.,

Twelve Years a Slave is now also a major motion picture by Fox Searchlight Films, and won the Oscar Award for Best Picture at the Academy Awards in March 2014. Boston Hill Press is a premier publisher of quality books in history, including the acclaimed VOTE LINCOLN.

What reviewers say about Twelve Years a Slave, either the book and/or movie:

“powerfully moving” --National Public Radio (NPR)

“a story that seizes you almost immediately with visceral force. ... an exceptional historical witness” --New York Times

“An unflinching take on the great American shame [slavery]. ... a raw, horrifying, and essential document.” --Time Magazine

“ ... one of the most important texts of the abolitionist movement, published just eight years before the outbreak of the Civil War. ... The film version – not unlike “Roots” in 1977 – is nothing short of an essential account of the American experience." --North Country Public Radio, Upstate New York, the former home region of Solomon Northup

A note to users of Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD/HDX: Boston Hill Press also publishes, in color, an annotated e-book edition of Twelve Years a Slave. It has added color and sepia illustrations from the Library of Congress. Search in the Kindle Store at Amazon.com for Twelve Years a Slave, in color.