An African's Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano, 1745-1797 (The Black Atlantic Series)

The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, a prominent African in late 18th-century Britain, is quoted, anthologized and interpreted in dozens of books and articles. More than any single contemporary, Equiano speaks for the fate of millions of Africans in the era of the transatlantic slave trade. This study attempts to create a rounded portrait of the man behind the literary image, and to study Equiano in the context of Atlantic slavery. "Equiano's autobiography, The Interesting Narrative, which was first published in 1789, is probably the most quoted, reprinted and widely published writing by an African before the twentieth century. His words have been extracted and quoted, anthologized and interpreted in dozens of books and articles. More than any single contemporary, Equiano speaks for the fate of millions of Africans in the era of the transatlantic slave trade. Until now, however, no one has written a serious - or even a popular - biographical study of this remarkable man. Few critics doubt the importance of his writing; few historians would deny the significance of his life and times. Scholars have analysed his work from literary and historical angles, but no one has really studied the man himself. This is the first study which attempts to create a rounded portrait of the man behind the literary image, and to study Equiano in the context of Atlantic slavery. It is, at one and the same time, an original portrait of a remarkable African and a study of the world of eighteenth-century Atlantic slavery."--BOOK JACKET 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.