Purchase
Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation
Harcourt
November 2007
On Sale: November 5, 2007
Featuring: WALLACE TURNAGE; John Washington
320 pages
ISBN: 0151012326
EAN: 9780151012329
Hardcover
Add to Wish List
Historical | Non-Fiction Biography
Slave narratives, some of the most powerful records of our past, are extremely rare, with only fifty-five postβCivil War narratives surviving. A mere handful are first-person accounts by slaves who ran away and freed themselves. Now two newly uncovered narratives, and the biographies of the men who wrote them, join that exclusive group with the publication of A Slave No More, a major new addition to the canon of American history. Handed down through family and friends, these narratives tell gripping stories of escape: Through a combination of intelligence, daring, and sheer luck, the men reached the protection of the occupying Union troops. David W. Blight magnifies the drama and significance by prefacing the narratives with each manβs life history. Using a wealth of genealogical information, Blight has reconstructed their childhoods as sons of white slaveholders, their service as cooks and camp hands during the Civil War, and their climb to black working-class stability in the north, where they reunited their families. In the stories of Turnage and Washington, we find history at its most intimate, portals that offer a rich new answer to the question of how four million people moved from slavery to freedom. In A Slave No More, the untold stories of two ordinary men take their place at the heart of the American experience.
 Media BuzzFresh Air - NPR - October 24, 2013
Fresh Air - NPR - December 4, 2007
| 
© 2003-2026