African's Life, 1745-1797 - The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano (Paperback, New edition)

Equiano's autobiography, first published in 1789, is the most quoted, reprinted and widely-published writing by an African before the twentieth century. His powerful words spoke for the fate of millions of Africans in the era of the transatlantic slave trade.

Equiano was, by turns, African child, American slave, field hand, domestic servant, sailor (an explorer to the Arctic), free man and political activist in Britain, best-selling author and devoted family man. His life offers a unique entree into one man's personal odyssey through the traumas or enslavement and slavery at the height of Britain's massive Atlantic slave empire.

Myriad scholars have analyzed his work from literary and historical angles, but there has never been a biography of the man himself -- until now. James Walvin chronicles the life of this important historical figure and his crusade for black emancipation and enlightenment.