12 Years a Slave (Movie Tie-In) (Penguin Classics)

The book that inspired the new major motion picture! (This edition has the illustrations used in the original 1853 published book.) Twelve Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northrup a free black man living in 19th century New York State with his wife and children -- until he was kidnapped in 1841 shipped down South and sold into slavery. He spent 12 years long torturous years in bondage -- working on plantations, picking cotton -- before finally being able to reclaim his freedom. In Twelve Years a Slave, Northrup describes the horror he endured himself, and the atrocities he witnessed during his enslavement.

This story of the abduction of a free Negro adult from the North and his enslavement in the South--provides a sensational element which cannot be matched in any of the dozens of narratives written by former slaves. 'Think of it: For thirty years a man, wit all man's hopes, fears and aspirations--with a wife and children to call him by the endearing names of husband and father--with a home, humble it may be, but still a home...then for twelve years a thing, a chattel personal, classed with mules and horses....Oh! it is horrible. It chills the blood to think that such are.'