The Classic Slave Narratives-paperback [Paperback]

Henry Louis Gates (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

No group of slaves anywhere, in any era, has left such prolific testimony to the horror of bondage as African-American slaves. Here are four of the most notable narratives: The Life of Olaudah Equiano; The History of Mary Prince; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; and Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl.

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451528247
• ISBN-13: 978-0451528247
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Special Groups > African-American Studies
  • #56 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > United States > Classics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Splendid Compilation, June 25, 2007

By 

Robert W. Kellemen "Doc. K." (Crown Point, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Classic Slave Narratives-paperback (Paperback)

Henry Louis Gates provides readers with an important contribution to the many first-hand accounts of enslavement. His scintillating introduction ties together the life and times of four African Americans who narrated their own story of slavery: Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs. The diversity chosen by Gates allows readers to gain a comprehensive perspective of the horrors of slavery: women/men, South/North, born in African/born in America. Readers desiring additional first-hand accounts are encouraged to consider compilations by Yetman of the slave interviews.

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

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, essential, heart-breaking, January 18, 2012

By 

Ted - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classic Slave Narratives (Mass Market Paperback)

Dr. Henry Louis Gates continues his important work in this volume. It should be mandatory in every middle school in America, without exception. Besides breathing emotional life into the lives of slaves - which is always missing in the broader historical context - one comes to realize how England, France, America and Portugal became such wealthy nations: through people consigned to labor from early childhood until they died. Dr. Gates doesn't need to make this political observation - the reader arrives at that conclusion from the narratives themselves. The narrators communicate how their minds and hearts stayed on freedom. Such thoughts occur while walking to the fields, while forced to observe others being brutalized, or when they have been promised freedom, only to find themselves sold to another owner and bound for the West Indies instead. When the last page is turned, not only does the reader feel a profound gratitude - for the narrators, for those whose stories were not recorded, for those who died on the middle passage or jumped overboard instead, and for our own relative freedom - but one understands that the issue of reparations from England, France, and the U.S. isn't far-fetched at all. It would have been the only decent thing to have done. I felt deep gratitude to Dr. Gates also for helping to ensure that this history is preserved, made available, and told over and again. The loving care with which this volume has been edited is evident.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a haunting and surprising slice of the not so distant past, April 30, 2008

By 

Deee Lovely "deeeelovely" (Ashburn, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Classic Slave Narratives-paperback (Paperback)

A friend had given me a copy of "The Bondwoman's Narrative" (great read) written by a slave that passed for white and escaped to the north. It was so surprising and full of things they never teach about when you cover the topic of American slavery in school. even some native americans could (and did) keep slaves.I couldn't put that book down and wanted to read more accounts of how things were, so I found this book.

It's such a small representation of slavery, but significant, none the less. It's several first hand accounts put into a collection. A very surprising read, I learned so many things I just had no idea about. It's sad and scary what these people went through, what was conditioned to them to be "normal" just to name a couple:

slave mothers being seperated from their children, them being considered "property" for sale

women being mistreaded by plantation owners wives because of their husbands affections for (and fathering children with) slaves

religion (Christianity) being permitted and used a tool to keep slaves "in their place"

It should be required reading. This is not a modern day account of what we should know. There is no agenda, no glossing over details, nothing is made to be outrageous and shocking just for the sake of it (although it certainly is). It's just raw, honest truth.