The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Or Gustavus Vassa, the African

This 1789 autobiography of a former slave is a key work in the history of the abolitionist movement in Britain.

Olaudah Equiano (Author)

9781108060233, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 June 2013

268 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.35 kg

Nigerian-born Olaudah Equiano (c.1745–97), also known as Gustavus Vassa, was sold into slavery as a child and endured the horrors of the transatlantic slave ships. He later worked on board Royal Navy vessels, receiving an education and converting to Christianity. Buying his freedom in 1766, he embarked on several voyages before settling in London, where he became involved in the causes of anti-slavery and the welfare of former slaves. Published in 1789, this successful two-volume autobiography boosted the abolitionist cause, providing a first-hand account of the experience of Africans on both sides of the Atlantic. An important document in the history of slavery and immigration, it remains a classic work of black writing. Volume 2 recounts how Equiano achieved his freedom, his conversion to Christianity, his experience of shipwreck in the West Indies, and his life in England.

7. The author's disgust at the West Indies
8. Three remarkable dreams
9. The author arrives at Martinico
10. The manner of the author's conversion to the faith of Jesus Christ
11. Picking up eleven miserable men at sea
12. Different transactions of the author's life.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]