Voices from Slavery: 100 Authentic Slave Narratives (African American) [Paperback]

Norman R. Yetman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 1999 | Series: African American

Vivid, first-person accounts of what it was like to be a slave in the antebellum South recounted in simple, often poignant language. Stark descriptions of the horrors of slave auctions, and many other unforgettable details of slave life. Accompanied by 32 compelling photographs and a new preface by the editor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Reprint Edition edition (May 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486409120
• ISBN-13: 978-0486409122
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > History > Americas > United States > African Americans

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative First Hand Accounts of Slavery, July 4, 2000

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Little Blue (San Ramon, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Voices from Slavery: 100 Authentic Slave Narratives (African American) (Paperback)

Unlike historians interpreting the lives and conditions of American slaves, those in bondage tell their own stories and allow readers to judge for themselves the South's "Peculiar Institution."

This book interviews slaves who lived on plantations throughout the slave-holding states. Subjects discussed range from living conditions, to relationships, to emancipation. How did slaves see their owners? What was their reaction when Federal soldiers marched onto their plantations and announced they were free? Once the shackles of slavery were thrown off, what did the former slaves do?

Not in any other work will someone find a more compact and sweeping first-hand account of life as a slave in the years leading up to, into, and beyond the American Civil War.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Compilation, January 2, 2006

By 

Robert W. Kellemen "Doc. K." (Crown Point, IN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Voices from Slavery: 100 Authentic Slave Narratives (African American) (Paperback)

Norman Yetman has done every researcher of African American history a great service by his splendid compilation in "Voice from Slavery: 100 Authentic Slave Narratives." Yetman used a precise formula for inclusion and/or exclusion in order to compile these 100 narratives out of more than 3000 interviews performed by the WPA in the 1930s. They are clearly representative of the entire 3000, while at the same time of greater length and providing more detail than the 2900 others.

Here the reader hears first-hand the voices of the ex-enslaved African American--telling his or her story with startling imagery and amazing detail. This is a one-of-a-kind collection well worth buying, reading, and re-reading.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He has also authored "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Close to conversing with slaves, June 10, 2007

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Thomas Reynolds (Potomac, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Voices from Slavery: 100 Authentic Slave Narratives (African American) (Paperback)

Importantly, this is an "easy" read. Since it is a compilation of stories told by people who had been slaves, it is not full of theory or the writing of historians demonstrating their ability to use obscure words. It is obviously all the more powerful and interesting as a result. If you know people and how to read between the lines, you walk away from this book with an understanding of just how complex slavery was and how different the treatment of slaves based simply on who was the slave owner. The author tried to balance selections, but I am suspicious of how balanced these accounts can be since I assume the slaves treated the worst were less likely to survive into their 80s and 90s, the ages of slaves interviewed. Nevertheless, it seems like a full range of individual experience is shown even if possibly not in proportion. I have seen filmed interviews and read the stories of concentration camp survivors. To me, the tales told in this book comes the closest to that learning experience in terms of understanding what slavery was like for the slaves.