Twelve Years a Slave
by Solomon Northup
The story of Solomon Northup is bizarre and incredible. Born a free black man in New York State in 1808, he was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in 1841, and spent most of the next 12 years as a slave on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. His years in such a state of captivity were full of bullying, fear, and a deep fear for his life (he barely survived lynching). It dramatically describes Northup's years in captivity and his attempts to bring charges against the men who kidnapped him. Northup, an educated man, was able to write about the institution both as a stranger and as one of its victims when he entered slavery. The result was a highly detailed and accurate description of slave life and plantation society. The work, which was once a bestseller, is a touching, vital testimony to one of the "thousands of lost" slaves who kept their humanity in the depths of humiliation. In 2013, the autobiography was turned into a blockbuster film; Chivetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard.
