Equiano, the African : biography of a self-made man

Summary: In this widely aclaimed biography, historian Vincent Carretta gives us the authoritative portrait of Olaudah Equiano (c.1745?1797), the former slave whose 1789 autobiography quickly became a popular polemic against the slave trade and a literary classic. Sailor, entrepreneur, and adventurer, Equiano is revealed here as never before, thanks to archival research on an unprecedented scale -- some of which even indicates that Equiano may have lied about his origins to advance the antibondage struggle with which he became famously identified. A masterpiece of scholarship and writerly poise, this book redefines an extraordinary man and the turbulent age that shaped him.

Record details

ISBN: 9780143038429 (pbk.)
Physical Description: print
xxiv, 436 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 22 cm.
Publisher: New York, NY : Penguin Books, 2006, c2005.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages [395]-418) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Equiano's Africa -- The Middle Passage -- At sea -- Freedom denied -- Bearing witness -- Freedom of a sort -- Toward the North Pole -- Born again -- Seeking a mission -- The Black poor -- Turning against the slave trade -- Making a life -- The art of the book -- A self-made man.