
Twelve Years a Slave
Solomon Northup(Author)
Penguin Classics (Publisher)
Published on 5. December 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-14-139382-7 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Description
This is an official tie-in edition of this eloquent and powerful memoir, to accompany Steve McQueen's major new film starring Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Quvenzhane Wallis. Solomon Northup is a free man, living in New York. Then he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Drugged, beaten, given a new name and transported away from his wife and children to a Louisiana cotton plantation, Solomon will die if he reveals his true identity. This is the searing true story of his twelve years as a slave: the endless brutality, daily humiliations and constant fear, but also the small ways in which he and his fellow men try to survive. Twelve Years a Slave is a unique, unflinching record of slavery from the inside, and the incredible account of one man whose life was ripped from him - and who fought to get it back. "A moving, vital testament to one of slavery's "many thousands gone" who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation". (Saturday Review). "I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frank's diary, only published nearly a hundred years before". (Steve McQueen).
Solomon Northup was a free man kidnapped into slavery in Washington, D.C. in 1841. Shortly after his escape, he published his memoirs to great acclaim and brought legal action against his abductors, though they were never prosecuted. The details of his life thereafter are unknown, but he is believed to have died in Glen Falls, New York, around 1863.
Solomon Northup was a free man kidnapped into slavery in Washington, D.C. in 1841. Shortly after his escape, he published his memoirs to great acclaim and brought legal action against his abductors, though they were never prosecuted. The details of his life thereafter are unknown, but he is believed to have died in Glen Falls, New York, around 1863.
Reviews / Votes
I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frank's diary, only published nearly a hundred years before -- Steve McQueen A moving, vital testament to one of slavery's "many thousands gone" who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation Saturday ReviewMore details
Edition
Film tie-in ed
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Media tie-in
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
191 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-139382-7 (9780141393827)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions

Solomon Northup | Henry Louis Gates
Twelve Years a Slave
Book
11/2012
Penguin Classics
€16.50
Available immediately
Additional editions

Solomon Northup
Twelve Years a Slave (Film Tie-in)
E-Book
12/2013
Penguin Books Ltd
€6.99
Available for download
Person
Solomon Northup was a free man kidnapped into slavery in Washington, D.C. in 1841. Shortly after his escape, he published his memoirs to great acclaim and brought legal action against his abductors, though they were never prosecuted. The details of his life thereafter are unknown, but he is believed to have died in Glen Falls, New York, around 1863.