Customer Reviews

Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America

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The cruelty that Francis Bok experienced at age seven--and which he recounts here--defies civilized human conception. One day in 1986, his mother Marial sent him to Nyamlell's market from their Southern Sudan Dinka village of Gourion to sell eggs and peanuts. His father Pial Bol Buk had recently called Francis "Muycharko"--"like twelve men." He would be successful and achieve something important.

Eventually, as this book bears out, his father's hope proved prophetic. But in 1986 Francis could count to no more than ten and still played alweth and Madallah--Dinka hide-and-seek and cricket. His mother sent older friends to supervise his first independent market trip.

The Catholic boy nicknamed Piol, for rain, that day lost his childhood and world to the murahaliin. After torching the nearby villages and slaying their inhabitants, 20 light-skinned Juur horsemen charged into Nyamlell. They severed the heads of all Dinka men with single sword strokes, left them rolling in the blood-soaked market dust and stole Piol's older friends Abuk, Kwol and Nyabol. A rifleman permanently silenced a crying girl with a bullet to her head. A swordsman sliced off her sister's leg at the thigh. Francis tried to flee. Terror squelched his cries. He was halted at gunpoint, grabbed and slung astride a small saddle, crafted specifically (as he later recognized) to carry abducted children, and ridden far north.

Bok recounts the role he played in pushing President Bush to toughen and sign the Sudan Peace Act on October 18, 2002. As he points out, this made Americans increasingly aware of Sudanese Islamic government support for mass enslavement and genocide of Southern Sudanese Christians and animists.

But as he also notes, while there may be some kind Muslims, the ongoing genocide against 2 million Southern Sudanese Dinka is merely a modern manifestation of Islamic tradition in Sudan and elsewhere throughout North Africa.

Francis Bok recognized in his treatment an institutionalized cruelty. He was beaten, forced to tend and sleep with animals, fed rotting meat, and cursed as a jedut--maggot--even after his master pressed a Muslim name and prayers on him. Abdul Rahman ironically means "servant of the compassionate one." But there was not one second of compassion during Bok's 10 years of captivity, although he was one of the lucky ones. He many times tried to escape, and failed. His penalties were mere beatings. Other Dinka escapees routinely lost their limbs when recaptured. Giemma Abdullah threatened the same; Bok didn't believe him, until he saw other Dinkas, limbless. Finally, at 17, Francis Bok took the cows one morning, and from the road near their grazing area ran all the way to Mutari. After further privations and imprisonments, Bok finally hid in a truck en route to ed-Da'ein, fled to Khartoum, to Cairo, and as a refugee, in 1999, to the U.S. He landed in the U.S. poor, illiterate, and 20.

But Bok admits that he was like all its victims unaware of the jihad institution's name or history. During 10 long years of enslavement by Giemma Abdullah in Kerio, Bok learned that the Arabic word abeed carried three meanings-"slave," "black" and "filth." Half his lifetime among Muslims taught him that they considered themselves better than Southern Sudanese infidels. But this hardly educated him on the institution to which his 20th century captors and masters subjected him.

The privations Bok suffered and the constant jihad in Sudan are typical of those suffered by non-Muslims, as pre-eminent Islamic scholar Bat Ye'or notes in The Decline of Eastern Christianity. Rudolf C. Slatin's In Fire and the Sword in the Sudan (1896), recounts 10 years of captivity by Khalifa Abdullah, searching for slaves and booty in Christian and animist regions. One finds similar accounts by Greek historian Speros Vryonis Jr. and in Nobel laureate Ivo Andric's 1924 Ph.D. thesis, Development of Spiritual Life in Bosnia under the Influence of Turkish Rule and in the October 20, 2003 issue of the Vatican-vetted La Civiltà Cattolica.

Francis Bok's book recounts his journey to freedom, education and the fulfillment of his father's dreams. This account resounds with the voice of twelve men, speaking as it does for the enslaved Dinka masses, still suffering razzias in Southern Sudan--and for non-Muslim dhimmis across time.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

The following review is submitted by Sudan's top woman writer, author Kola Boof.

Once again, Francis Bok, a brave handsome heroic warrior man from the very gracious and proud Dinka Tribe has come forward with humility and elegance...to tell his truth. Not only does he tell HIS truth--but he also tells the truth of all of us who are both black and Sudanese. This is a remarkable book, one that should be important to ALL humanity, because in the larger sense, it is not just about being black or being Dinka in Sudan, it is not just about slavery...it is about human beings failing to honor and cherish the lives...of other human beings. This is one of the best books of the year!!!

As an Arab/Oromo woman born in Omdurman--and as a Northerner--I would like to testify and back up Mr. Bok's truth, because I personally witnessed much of what he writes about in his book.of course.I witnessed entirely different events at an entirely different time, because being the daughter of an Arab Egyptian, I was able to see the slave movement from its "infancy"--before it became visible and I was also an 8 year old child playing in the home of Dr. John Garang as my father, Garang (a Dinka) and other Arabs discussed at great length...what would years later become the SPLA.

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PLEASE BUY IT RIGHT NOW! IT'S WORTH EVERY PENNY!

About Kola Boof:

Sudanese-American author Kola Boof...currently appears in the just released all new short story collection "Politically Inspired--Edited by Stephen Elliott" (MacAdam/Cage). All proceeds of the book "Politically Inspired" go to the Oxfam Humanitarian fund to help buy food and medicine for children in Iraq. In February 2004, Kola Boof's 1995 Arabic novel "Flesh and the Devil" will be released in ENGLISH in the U.S. translated by Said Musa. Kola Boof's books for the North African Book Exchange, however, were forced out of print when Muslim forces in Morrocco firebombed the author's publisher Russom Damba in Rabat. This includes her classic "Long Train to the Redeeming Sin", which is no longer in print. Miss Boof became a citizen of the United States in 1993.

This book is the autobiography of a young man who has seen more in 21 years than most experience in a lifetime. Bok was taken into slavery at age 7, after a jihadist raid on his village in the Sudan that left his entire family dead. (With one exception, as he movingly reveals late in the book.) After ten years in captivity and living in an animal shed, he escaped and eventually came to the US. This book should be read by everyone, including younger readers, because it's a first-person account of something that most of us think was abolished in the 19th century, but in fact continues to this day. The author does public speaking and I hope our church will invite him to talk to our congregation. An amazing, moving story of imprisonment and triumph.

This is an absolutely moving description of modern slavery. It could have easily been written to include grisly details of specific tortures that Bok and others suffered. But, this story's purpose is not to be shocking or voyeuristic. Instead, it is meant to inform the world about what most of us think ended hundreds of years ago. Sensationalism is not necessary. The indignities inherent in slavery, the sorrows of stolen lives, and the struggle for freedom are heartrending in themselves. And, there is always the understanding that as horrendous as his life of slavery was, millions of others continue to live even harsher lives enslaved.

It is a shame that the situation is not well-known. Obviously, people should work as vehemently against slavery today as they ever did before. Though the book ultimately urges activism, simply being knowledgeable of this issue is undoubtedly a tremendous step forward.

We have all heard tales of slavery through the past centuries. This is an account of slavery today. The young Francis Bok was captured and enslaved at age 7, and was not able to escape for ten years. This book tells of the survival of that child, and of his becoming a man.
While the horrifics of slavery and all it entails are important, and very much a part of this book, there is something else to me that stands out, that makes it important to read.
The childhood of the young Francis for the first seven years is the basis of his will, strength and ability to survive his captivity. The loving up-bringing from his family, extended family and friends gave him the strength to survive.

When I started this book, I'd heard of Sudan, but didn't know exactly where it was. I'd heard of the Dinka's, but knew little about them. I'm reminded daily on the radio of how awful we Americans are and how we should be punished for every having had slaves. This book told an awful truth about the existence of slavery alive today, all around the world, about children losing their limbs, about little girls being raped and stolen from their families. But this book also told a wonderful story about America and its open arms and the possibilities, the wonders, awaiting everyone who is blessed to live here. It told about how accepting, and welcoming Americans are, how the jobs are out there, of the precious value of our education system and so much mroe. Of course, there's a lot that needs fixing, but this book gives such wonderful hope to all who read it. And it blesses us with an introduction to an inspiring, strong, moral young man Mr. Buk.

I ran into this book at a local store this weekend. I saw the word slavery and looked at the person on the front cover and was surprised that the picture was not medieval but one of a modern looking young gentleman. I went on to buy the book which I read with heightened interest within five hours. I admire Francis' strong will and determination for a better life for his people and his pursuit for peace in his country. I am Kenyan. A luo to be precise. Our tribe migrated from the Sudan about 500 years ago in the wake of war and famine. As I read this book I noticed that some of the Dinka names are ours which means that I may be a descendant of a Dinka. I am therefore shocked and appalled at what is going on at my old home. I don't know why my country never publicized this war while I was growing up. (I was twelve in 1986).

A relative gave me this book, and it sat for months on my shelf unread. It was hard to get up the motivation to read what I thought was a chronicle of poverty and disease, oppression and struggle. I never felt that there was an appropriate moment to pick up the book and delve into that world.

Boy, I was stupid. One day I just picked up the book, and within 24 hours I had read the entire thing. It's well-written, flows easily, and Mr. Bok, while letting us know the details of his slavery and capture, does not exploit them. While the conditions of his life as a slave are shocking, his escape and success in the United States are even more so. Reading about Mr. Bok's journey through the Sudan, Egypt and Fargo, North Dakota (yes, you read it correctly) is a fascinating look into how one man can work to save his people. It is also a unique look at the growth of a human being, the challenges of entering a new culture, and a reminder that every single person, no matter how old, deserves the right to life-long education. I thank Mr. Bok for his courage, and his mentors for providing us with this story.

Any glance at the news is reminder that slavery and conflict in the sudan STILL EXIST TODAY. American foreign policy exists outside of the scope of the Middle East, and I hope this memoir will serve to make more people aware of the horrible human rights abuses that continue, and they will pressure Western governments to provide more relief to Sudanese refugees, and encourage peace and development in the region.

As a former teacher, I would recommend this book to any high school or program. I understand there is also an educational text offered to accompany it. There are some interesting anecdotes about Mr. Bok's experiences as a 21-year-old student in a classroom full of high-school drop-outs; it might spark interesting discussion to a classroom with unmotivated students.

Two days ago I began to read "Escape from Slavery". I have hardly wanted to set it down since I picked it up. I have been saddened but incredibly inspired. I am forcefully reminded that freedom is a miracle too easily taken for granted. Until this week, I admit I was completely ignorant of Sudan, let alone the plight of it's people. In fact, I only knew Sudan was another big country "somewhere in Africa". This book is not a history of Sudan, but it does put it on the map for you. It does not try to expound on all of the political issues, but it paints a very human picture of how the government affects the people. This is one young man's compelling account of his early life and journey as a slave in Sudan. It is told in a simple, clear and honest voice. For me, Sudan is now the birthplace of Piol Bol Buk - known today as "Francis Bok". It is the place where Piol laughed and played with his family. He made clay cows with his friends, and dreamed of being like his father. It is the place where Piol was entrusted one day to take his mother's produce to sell at the market...and would never return. Here was a little boy forced to witness unspeakable violence, and who had everything taken away from him. However, no one could take his indomitable spirit. Sudan is a place where innocent lives are crushed every day, and yet it is also the place where Francis Bok was created. Francis humbly and painstakingly details his escape, the agonizing immigration process, and the miraculous turn of events that ensued. Francis has begun to fulfill his father's prophesy that someday he would do "great and important things" and would have the strength of "twelve men". This is a story about slavery, but it is really a story about hope, faith, will-power and determination. It is a miraculous story. Who could have imagined that this young boy with no hope of survival would make such a huge impact for his country already? Truly inspirational! This is a testament that the human spirit can survive unspeakable things - and then can rise from the ashes. When you find a story like this, you just can't wait to share it with the world! Francis Bok lived through such horrific pain, and yet now we have the chance to listen to his story, and to make a difference in the world just like he has. I hope that you will choose to read this story. I know that you will be so grateful!

Frances Bok lived through what so many of us don't even know still exists. Brought up in rural Sudan, his village was raided, most of the adults killed, and most of the children taken into slavery. Frances was 7 when this happened and forced to live through horror after horror without any kindness, any love, without any affection.

Frances saw adults and children brutally murdered and it was clear to him that fighting back would cause him to also be one of the casualties.

Frances was kept in a barn, given scraps of food to eat, refused any kindness. Even the children of his captor were horrible to him. What kept Frances going was the love that had been given to him before captivity and the belief that some of his family may have survived. Indeed, there is a bittersweet ending to Bok's story.

Frances, gratefully and amazingly, does escape and live to share his memoir. When I read this book last year, I participated on a message board. I tried to share this book with educated people who adamantly refused to recognize that this story isn't all that unusual. This is STILL happening today. The perpetrators of these crimes are from a culture that devalues those that are different. Slavery, genital mutilation, abuse to women, honor killings. . . it seems as if, although we hear of these stories on a daily basis, we are still reluctant to characterize the culture as faulty. And, so it continues.