Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano's autobiography -- the first "slave narrative" to attract a wide readership -- reveals many aspects of the eighteenth-century Western world through the experiences of one individual.
And what an extraordinary individual he was. Olaudah Equiano (oh-la-UU-day ek-we-AH-no) experienced slavery and freedom in the entire Atlantic world, from Africa to the Arctic, from the Bay of Honduras to the Ottoman Empire.
This text reproduces the original London printing, supervised by Equiano in 1789. The 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--was he born in Africa, as he maintained, or was he born in the New World as recent scholarship has suggested?-- as well as the latest scholarship on Atlantic history and the history of slavery. It 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.
“The introduction enlightens as well as intrigues. It enables students with no prior background in eighteenth-century history to see the book in its character as a work of Christian witness against slavery and the slave trade, and still leaves them eager to read it as an adventure story, too.”
— Fred Anderson
University of Colorado, Boulder