History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Barnes & Noble C: An American Slave (Barnes & Noble Classics)

Average customer rating:

GREAT BOOK
The Greatest Book of Slavery Ever Written!
Worth Every Penny
A great read
"...valuable bread of knowledge." (pg. 44)

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Barnes & Noble C: An American Slave (Barnes & Noble Classics)
Frederick Douglass
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1593080417

Book Description

No book except perhaps Uncle Tom’s Cabin had as powerful an impact on the abolitionist movement as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. But while Stowe wrote about imaginary characters, Douglass’s book is a record of his own remarkable life.

Born a slave in 1818 on a plantation in Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write. In 1845, seven years after escaping to the North, he published Narrative, the first of three autobiographies. This book calmly but dramatically recounts the horrors and the accomplishments of his early years—the daily, casual brutality of the white masters; his painful efforts to educate himself; his decision to find freedom or die; and his harrowing but successful escape.

An astonishing orator and a skillful writer, Douglass became a newspaper editor, a political activist, and an eloquent spokesperson for the civil rights of African Americans. He lived through the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the beginning of segregation. He was celebrated internationally as the leading black intellectual of his day, and his story still resonates in ours.

Customer Reviews:

GREAT BOOK.......2007-05-08

PUCHASED THIS BOOK FOR CLASS BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A REAALY INTERESTING READ..

The Greatest Book of Slavery Ever Written!.......2006-10-21

This book helped me to see the freedoms that I now have. It also taught me to follow my dreams with all my heart. "Give me liberty or give me death" What a true blessing to read about this great man of GOD.

Worth Every Penny.......2006-08-31

I needed this book for an 11th grade summer assignment so I decided to purchase this version of the book. I loved how the price was good, and I loved the extra bits of information at the beginning of the book (like the timeline). I suggest anyone intrested in reading this book purchase this version...it definately was worth it!

A great read.......2006-07-10

"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man." It is with acute insight and unyielding clarity that Douglass describes his feelings, experiences, and ultimate emancipation from slavery. The reader is taken into his mind - his doubts of ever being free, his fight with Mr. Covey, and his lost of hope.

I read an excerpt of this book with my students, and it is amazing how alive Douglass seems to them through his writing. The students enjoy learning about Frederick Douglass - and as such, they are given a glimpse into one of the most poignant stories in regards to the triumph of the human spirit.

"...valuable bread of knowledge." (pg. 44).......2006-07-09

First, I must mention that there are several editions of this book that have been published. I actually have two different editions but henceforth I will be referring to the Barnes & Noble Classic version with the Introduction by Robert O'Meally published in 2003. It is unlikely the other editions are better.

With timelines and detailed endnotes, Robert O'Meally, a Columbia University Professor, provides a scholarly introduction to Narrative, which all combine to create an excellent reference on Frederick Douglass.

One would make quick work in reading the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. It is not a lengthy autobiography which could be attributed to the fact that this is his first autobiography; it was written in 1845 when he was around 27 years of age. He later pens My Bondage, My Freedom (1855) and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1892).

In short, it is a must read for everyone! Frederick Douglass provides a first-hand account of the evils of slavery, unveiling its immorality for all to see. He writes clearly, descriptively and at times with emotion; appropriately so given the circumstances. From his attempts at identifying his father, to his encounters with his various masters and overseers, to his epiphany that "...rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom...", you will be a passenger on his journey to emancipation.

Upon learning how to read, Frederick Douglass stated, "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers." When reading this autobiography those same feelings will arise anew in you.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

Forgotten American Political Classic, Best Slave Narrative Reading
fantastic reading
Simply the best narrative I have read...
must read, best on the psychology of slavery, particularly on owners
Breaking the bonds of slavery

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself (Penguin Classics)
Frederick Douglass , and Houston A. Baker
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 014039012X

Book Description

In 1845, just seven years after his escape from slavery, the young Frederick Douglass published this powerful account of his life in bondage and his triumph over oppression. The book, which marked the beginning of Douglass’s career as an impassioned writer, journalist, and orator for the abolitionist cause, reveals the terrors he faced as a slave, the brutalities of his owners and overseers, and his harrowing escape to the North. It has become a classic of American autobiography.
This edition of the book, based on the authoritative text that appears in Yale University Press’s multivolume edition of the Frederick Douglass Papers, is the only edition of Douglass’s Narrative designated as an Approved Text by the Modern Language Association’s Committee on Scholarly Editions. It includes a chronology of Douglass’s life, a thorough introduction by the eminent Douglass scholar John Blassingame, historical notes, and reader responses to the first edition of 1845.
“None so dramatically as Douglass integrated both the horror and the great quest of the African-American experience into the deep stream of American autobiography. He advanced and extended that tradition and is rightfully designated one of its greatest practitioners.”—John W. Blassingame, from the introduction

Customer Reviews:

Forgotten American Political Classic, Best Slave Narrative Reading .......2007-10-07

I read this book some years ago and thought it the best American personnal slave narrative ever written.A forerunner of the 20th century's ,'Autobiography of Malcolm X'.This book is sadly forgotten by many,both among black and white educators.Frederick Douglass was more than an "American Moses",he could have been called ,an 'American Frederick Engels'.Douglass had the power of literacy,which the European-American christians always wanted surpressed and restricted for everybody,especially slaves and the church laity.Douglass had the power of knowledge,and the ablity to reason,which in turn leads to a better society.The more freedom of knowledge is restricted by authorities,the more explosive the base of society becomes.The free exchange of ideas has always allowed a democracy to flourish,and inturn a more stable and progressive society,a 'Great Society'.Frederick Douglass' Washingtonian beacon house still stands proudly on the hill overlooking the scenic and political landscape.This book is a short classic narrative,yet still worthy of investing one's time reading today.

fantastic reading.......2007-07-31

I love reading about history,part of history that everyone should read about. I would recommend to everyone...

Simply the best narrative I have read..........2007-07-18

As society moves about, the slavery of the past remains alive and well. "Sweep it under the rug and do not bring it up" is the mindset of many. This type of suppression is often brought about because of the known guilt of an unfair past. American slavery has deep roots, reading the life of Fredrick Douglass, will help unveil some of the true history of America.

At one point in the book Douglass realized he had past the time of being an indentured servant and knew that being a slave for life was his fate. He was treated with little if no respect. Douglass described Mr. Severe, one of his "masters", as a man who would whip a slave for almost no reason at all (22). Dougless illustrated that Mr. Severe had no respect for his slaves, but treated them as if they were not human.

Many people may think that Douglass story was the exception, but that's not the case. Many times through out the book Douglass spoke of other slave's punishment as far worse than his own. He even recorded the murder of two slaves in Talbot, Maryland and stated that the slave owner never paid for the crime (31-33). This type of abuse almost seems unfathomable, but it's reality.

Studying the origins of slavery can allow us to see the disgusting progression of the enslavement of human life and stripping of human character. Douglass' narrative provides the reader with a glimpse into the life of a slave. The emotional state of Douglass was strong, considering the abuse that he underwent during his life. The narrative of Fredrick Douglass is a superb read for anyone wanting to get a first hand understanding of the life of an American slave.

must read, best on the psychology of slavery, particularly on owners.......2007-01-18

This is an absolutely amazing narrative, of the growth of an individual from the most brutish of slave lives to a free man who took pride in his work and his mind, which he then bent to political action. While told as a story, this book is actually an essay on personal struggle and development: to respect himself, to change his circumstances, to be re-born. At that, it is extremely powerful and moving. The reader empathizes completely with his rage, his awakening, and his striving to grow. He came to the point where he would rather fight back than die slowly, never to be dominated in his spirit.

But it also points to the effect of slavery on their owners. While there are the standard cruel and selfish ones, who are attempting to "break" his spirit in order to domesticate him, the story of how it twists the souls of essentially good people that is the most interesting and shocking. It is like a sickness, their total and unresponsible power, that extingusihes their empathy and replaces it with the most horrible selfishness, as they debase themselves with cruelty. You get the whippings and routine humilations, but also what that does to the perpetrators. This means that the book never descends into stereotypes, but reads as an extremely fresh story by a thoughtful, indeed brilliant, man.

THere are also many interesting asides, which are often philosophical. He points out the hypocrisy of southern christians, who make the worst and most cruel and self-righteous slavers, all while justifying their behavior by the bible. He also recounts how he expected that the "refinement" of the southern gentleman and their leisure would be impsooble in the North, which he pictured as poor as the non-slave holding population in the South - but he discovers an entirely different kind of economic life, in which men worked and prospered and deveoped themselves even more than what he had observed on plantations. But the most important thing is his recounting of his inner journey, which was encouraged by his learning to read as a way to overcome the ignorence that made for "contented slaves."

There is so much food for thought on the human spirit as well as wonder at how the US has evolved. Highest recommendation. If you like this, you should also read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriat A. Jacobs.

Breaking the bonds of slavery.......2006-07-14

This nonfiction revels in importance simply because of its magnitude in not only the fight against slavery in the latter part of the 1800s (and the subsequent abolition), but also because of its brutal honesty for an individual who should be considered an ancestor of civil rights. Fredrick Douglass narrates in detail many of the terrors, horrors, and injustices that he and those around him had to endure during his years as a slave in Maryland. He describes the beatings, whippings, tortures and even deaths that he was close to and had no power to stop. He makes the point that slaveholders gained control over slaves by dehumanizing them, making them ignorant against their own accord, and ultimately having control over them. Frederick does everything in his power to negate this dehumanization, and begins to learn to read and write, but with more knowledge gained he has a stronger sense of loathing those who enslave him: "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no better light than a band of successful robbers who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes..."

He should be considered a hero for standing up to hardships with little or no support on his side, and finding strength to get past these when he had seemingly had his spirit broken. One important moment is the incident with Edward Covey, the notorious "slave breaker", when rather than giving in, Frederick gets into a rather lengthy physical fight. From this time onward, Frederick is resolved to never let others get the best of him, try to force him to do anything against his will, without a fight. Later he resolves that when the right time comes, he will try to run from slavery and escape. When he is able to land in New York, a kind-hearted man, David Ruggles, comes to his aid and helps him get work.

Historically, this is an important story for Americans to know. Douglass' account is a short narrative (a little over one hundred pages), and reads rather quickly, but in that short time he is able to illustrate just how degrading the issue of slavery had become. His autobiography shows the importance of change, the lows with which others sometimes subject each other to, and the essence of taking up a fight against injustices.

The Classic Slave Narratives (Signet Classics)

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A Splendid Compilation
To The Last Reviewer
look
A quartet of remarkable human testaments
A great book that has provides a timeline of slavery.

The Classic Slave Narratives (Signet Classics)
Henry Louis Gates
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0451528247

Book Description

By 1944, over six thousand ex-slaves had written moving stories of their captivity, providing a prolific testimony to the horrors of bondage and servitude. Noted scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. compiles four of the most important "slave narratives" in this seminal volume.

Customer Reviews:

A Splendid Compilation.......2007-06-25

Henry Louis Gates provides readers with an important contribution to the many first-hand accounts of enslavement. His scintillating introduction ties together the life and times of four African Americans who narrated their own story of slavery: Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs. The diversity chosen by Gates allows readers to gain a comprehensive perspective of the horrors of slavery: women/men, South/North, born in African/born in America. Readers desiring additional first-hand accounts are encouraged to consider compilations by Yetman of the slave interviews.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D. is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care And Spiritual Direction, and Soul Physicians.

To The Last Reviewer.......2004-06-30

You are a jackass. No one "sold us to the US". We were STOLEN and taken back. Who is to say what changes there would have been if we had not been. Africa might be a better place today.
I say BE THANKFUL for what you have, but don't be a self-righteous a$$hole about it.

Expand your mind and buy this book!

look.......2004-03-05

You speak of enslavement in the US--who sold you to the US???Never is THIS mentioned. In Africa today, people are dying in the thousands of AIDS. Could the African Americans of today not thank our forefathers for coming over and sacrificing for our legacy?? What are you thinking?? We have it made now, we are not in Africa with disease, pestilence, violence, and an anscetory that sold us to the US. Go ahead with your pitifullness--I am grateful that our own people sold us out. We are now successful, healthy, and for me--I am thankful to be here. Sometimes, things happen for a reason, no matter how bad things might be. Give thanks to your grand-parents, great grand parents and to the US for making your life so much better. Above all-----------THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND don't lick wounds--they are long gone.

A quartet of remarkable human testaments.......2001-01-23

The practice of enslavement in the Americas is a phenomenon of staggering proportions. It is also one of the most thoroughly documented systems of human rights abuse in history. "The Classic Slave Narratives" brings together four powerful testaments of individuals who survived enslavement in the Americas. The book also contains an insightful introduction by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

As Gates notes in the introduction, it has been estimated that more than 6,000 ex-slaves left some form of written testament between 1703 and 1944--an amazing body of literature. "The Classic Slave Narratives" is thus just a tiny part of a vast genre. Specifically, this anthology contains "the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano," "The History of Mary Prince," "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl."

Each of the four powerful texts offers an effective complement to the others in the collection. In other words, each narrative illuminates at least one unique and important aspect of the American slave experience. Olaudah Equiano, for example, tells what it was like for a native African to be enslaved and transported across the Atlantic in a slave ship. Prince illuminates the life of a slave woman on the Caribbean islands. Douglass, born to a slave mother and a white father, describes in detail his quest for literacy. And Jacobs offers an incisive window into the sexual pathology of the slaveowning society.

These four texts are both valuable historical documents and fascinating works of literature. Much American literature--autobiography, poetry, novels, essays, and other genres--demonstrates the influence of, or parallels to, these pivotal texts. "The Classic Slave Narratives" is a necessary text for those interested in United States and Caribbean history, in American literature, in literacy, or in human rights.

A great book that has provides a timeline of slavery........1999-01-08

This book contains first hand accounts acounts of slaves during there life in Africa and how it felt to be stuffed into a slave ship and go across the see for days and days to escape slaves to slavery as it was right before the Civil War.

Black Women Writers and the American Neo-Slave Narrative: Femininity Unfettered (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies)

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Black Women Writers and the American Neo-Slave Narrative: Femininity Unfettered (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies)
Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313308381

Book Description

The neo-slave narrative is an important development in American literary history and has serious revisionist intentions at its foundation. This book examines how contemporary African American women writers have shaped the genre. These authors have written neo-slave narratives to reinscribe history from the perspective of the African American woman, most specifically the nineteenth century enslaved mother. The writers considered in this study--Sherley Anne Williams, Toni Morrison, J. California Cooper, Gayl Jones, and Octavia Butler--explore American slavery through the lens of gender, both to interrogate the myth that enslaved women, denied the privilege of having a gender identity by the institution of slavery, were in fact genderless, and to celebrate the acts of resistance which enabled enslaved women to mother in the fullest sense of the term. The volume begins with an overview of historical representations of slavery in America, from the slave narrative itself to the revisionist scholarship of the 1960s. The book then examines several individual neo-slave narratives, such as Margaret Walker's Jubilee (1966), Williams' Dessa Rose (1986), Morrison's Beloved (1987), Cooper's Family (1991), Jones' Corregidora (1975), and Butler's Kindred (1979). What the women in these novels have in common is the fact that they mother; what the writers have in common is a tendency to utilize subversive strategies such as reversal, blurring, and the creation of myth to dramatize gender identity and to highlight the varied nature of motherhood as enslaved women experienced it. The final chapter evaluates the influence of the neo-slave narrative on American literature in general and on popular perceptions and misperceptions of African American women.

The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

Beauty from Ashes
Amazing Primary Source History
A fascinating story
Good Book
This book is a gift from a great man who lived 200 years ago

The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)
Olaudah Equiano , and Vincent Carretta
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142437166
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Book Description

An exciting and often terrifying adventure story, as well as an important precursor to such famous nineteenth-century slave narratives as Frederick Douglass's autobiographies, Olaudah Equiano's Narrative recounts his kidnapping in Africa at the age of ten, his service as the slave of an officer in the British Navy, his ten years of labor on slave ships until he was able to purchase his freedom in 1766, and his life afterward as a leading and respected figure in the antislavery movement in England. A spirited autobiography, a tale of spiritual quest and fulfillment, and a sophisticated treatise on religion, politics, and economics, The Interesting Narrative is a work of enduring literary and historical value.

Customer Reviews:

Beauty from Ashes.......2005-09-13

Of all the firsthand accounts known to us as "slave narratives," Vassa's description is unique in many ways. To begin with, he takes his readers all the way back to his African roots, shedding historically-confirmed light on almost lost ancient traditions. His discussion of the harrowing and epically sad capture and separation of he and his sister are among the most moving in this genre.

He then describes the despicable, inhumane conditions in the holds of the slave ships with a "you-are-there" writing style. Again, confirmed by other sources, these are some of the most often quoted accounts in historical texts. In this same chronological phase, Vassa also depicts the shared empathy among the enslave Africans, helping us to see how they collaborated to survive.

His ongoing narrative offers one of the more balanced looks at slavery. Vassa clearly tells the horrors of this evil system and the people responsible for it. At the same time, he often shares accounts of Europeans and White Americans who befriended him. In fact, his positive statements about non-Africans lend further credence to his critique of the many evils of slavery.

His narrative also contains unique elements in his descriptions of his path toward freedom and his life as a freeman. We learn that in his era, for a man of his race, it was barely more tolerable to be free, given the hatred that he still endured.

Though some reviewers tend to minimize or criticize it, his conversion narrative is classic. In fact, it may well have been the standard from which later testimonies were crafted about how "God struck me dead." Perhaps the evangelical nature of his conversion turns off some. However, if we are to engage Vassa in his other accounts, we must engage him here. Further, coming as it did later in his life, it is easy to see how his account of his entire life is entirely shaped by his conversion experience. Clearly, Vassa sees even the evils that he has suffered as part of a larger plan. In doing so he never suggests that God condones the evils of slavery. Rather, he indicates that God created beauty from ashes.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," and of "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."

Amazing Primary Source History.......2005-06-28

Hemingway said of Tillie Olsen's "Tell Me a Riddle" that, however many readers it may have, it will never have enough. He expressed my feelings about this book. Yes, the "Autobiography of Frederick Douglass" is critical to achieve an understanding of the obscenities of black slavery in the New World, but Equiano's remarkable account dramatizes it in ways even more diverse. He summarizes in his single life the whole span of slavery, from his kidnapping as a child from Africa to the fiendish brutality of Caribbean sugar plantations. But he is also a celebration of the indomitability of the human spirit at its most resilient: from his insistence, against all odds, on his own worth as a person, his acquisition of seafaring and business skills, his achievement not only of literacy but of an Englishman's 18th century eloquence.
I didn't think I could learn more about the particular brutalities of slavery, but I did. An example: in the Caribbean some slavemasters "rented out" their slaves by the day to other masters for excruciating toil. Their temporary masters sometimes "forgot" to feed them lunch, and moreover sometimes sent them back to their masters without payment. For retribution, their masters then beat the slaves! This was a new twist for me, and reminded me that the psychological torture--imagining the starved and exhausted slaves returning to their masters, knowing what was awaiting--often outstripped physical torture for cruelty.
But this is no litany of abuses, and Equiano is careful to spare us gratuitous outrages. He lived the equivalent of five or six lives within his timespan, and the book likewise breaks up into episodes: the African years--during which he chronicles a clime of abundant food and privileged childhood; his adventures at sea, serving several captains on mercantile ships that faced enemy fire and perils of every kind; his strivings to buy his freedom in the Caribbean and North America; his conversion to Christianity; and his settling as a freeman in England with marriage to a British wife.
As with most primary source documents, there are lulls in the narrative. The writing about the author as a Christian aware of his "sins" (he who has so overwhelmingly sinned against) is as familiar as it is ironic. Episodes in the seafaring accounts will be of more interest to afficionados of Melville or Conrad. But what is finally amazing is Equiano's moderation and modesty in describing a most remarkable life. One wonders how many hundreds of thousands of uprooted Africans succumbed to the brutalization and denial of their self-worth for every one who managed to salvage some shred of dignity, but one is nevertheless grateful to Equiano for putting his own example in writing.
It is writing for the ages. I wonder whether it should be required reading, for high school students, for example. Perhaps it's a bit too difficult or tedious for everyone in that age group. But at the very least it should be mentioned in the same breath as Douglass's books. I was 62 before I'd even heard Equiano's name. This remarkable account should be better known.

A fascinating story.......2004-08-06

Many people -- including myself -- read science fiction and fantasy novels to see new vistas of the imagination, alien cultures and circumstances in which we could never imagine ourselves. Sometimes we look to distant futures or galaxies without remembering just how alien the planet we live on can be!

Equiano's account -- generally a clear, crisply written and unsentimental account with detailed descriptions of the places he visits, with the occassional sermon or rare florid description (Dr. Charles Irving's device "renders fresh Neptune's briny element") -- shows a whirlwind series of adventures, from his time as an Igbo village prince, to his enslavement and trek to the African coast under a series of masters, to his horrendous voyage across the middle passage, his amazement at the terrifying new world he was brought into, his conversion to Christianity, his service in the Seven Years War, his attempts to buy his freedom, and his varying adventures as a sailor. The account goes on to include his disastrous expedition to the North Pole and subsequent spiritual crisis upon such a close touch with his mortality, his management as a commissar for an attempt to settle freed blacks in Sierra Leonne, and, finally, his marraige (something touched on very cursorily, perhaps because he didn't wish to add too much to new editions of the book, which was initially completed before his marraige, or possibly because he was very busy raising his daughters, lecturing, and testifying for the abolitionist cause).

Some parts of the account seem, perhaps, slightly too convenient. One might be tempted to wonder if Equiano's memories, as a ten year old, of the customs of his people are shaped by his desire to retrospectively turn them into Jews, or if his account of, upon hearing that a book contain words, holding it to his ear is borrowed from countless other accounts of the "primitive" who misunderstands the nature of the written word, or if his account of himself as a determined fighter for the integrity of the Sierra Leone colonization project, undermined by the other corrupt managers of the project, who stole from the Exchequer and undersupplied the intended black colonists isn't a biased portrayal in his favor. Overall, though, the records that have been recovered by historians have been favorable to Equiano's story, and inaccuracies are remarkably rare for a book so extensive and often written from memories thirty-years old.

Good Book.......2002-02-09

This book presents an interesting and unique view into the world of slavery. Buy it...now!

This book is a gift from a great man who lived 200 years ago.......2001-03-22

An amazing story of a young man kidnapped from his African village as a boy, transported to the Caribbean from island to island and his dealings with the people who were in power. How he gained his freedom, then lost it, then gained it again. His struggle to reconcile what the Bible taught about kindness with what he saw the "Christians" actually doing to slaves. This book is essential reading for anyone living in the Caribbean who wants to understand the mental slavery that still exists there to this day. Its THE guide to "self-help" that beats all others. Its the story of a wonderfully determined man.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (Enriched Classics)

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narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas: An American Slave, Written by Himself
A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (Enriched Classics)
Frederick Douglass
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 074348777X

Book Description

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED

BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

Frederick Douglass's powerful autobiographical account of life in bondage and his triumphant escape to freedom.

EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON

Customer Reviews:

narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas: An American Slave, Written by Himself.......2007-09-09

I ordered this book for my daughter,for college. She is very pleased with it.

A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.......2007-07-29

Frederick Douglass was a social thinker in his time. The book was
first published in 1845 by the Anti-Slavery Office. A memorable
quote is presented:
" I was born in Tuckahoe near Hillsborough and about 12 miles
from Easton in Talbot County, MD. I have no accurate knowledge of my
age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.
By far, the larger part of slaves know as little of their ages,
as horses know of theirs and it is the wish of most masters within
my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant."

Frederick Douglass tells of the cruel whippings of slaves.
He describes Mr. Severe who was both cruel and profane. There are
recitations of trips to the Great House Farm in order to pick up the
monthly allowance by slaves. The book chronicles his plan and
success in escaping slavery. He was wary of the "Underground
Railroad" because it stimulated masters to increase their
general surveillance and watchfulness over the slaves.
The work contains an eye-opening recitation of the treatment of slaves
even a half century after the Constitution was written.

The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Norton Critical Editions)

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Teachers beware--poorly proofread edition!
Interesting indeed, an amazing account of an unusual life

The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Norton Critical Editions)
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393974944

Book Description

Olaudiah Equiano's 1789 narrative tells the remarkable story of his childhood in Africa, his kidnapping and subsequent years as a slave and seaman, and his eventual road to freedom in the Caribbean and in England. The text reprinted here is that of the 1789 first edition. It is accompanied by explanatory annotations, textual notes, and a map of Equiano's travels. "Contexts" provides essential related public writings on the work by James Tobin, Gustavus Vassa (Olaudiah Equiano), and Samuel Jackson Pratt; general and historical background by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Eav Beatrice Dykes, Wylie Sypher, Charles H. Nichols, Nathan I. Huggins, and David Dabydeen; related travel and scientific literature by Anthony Benezet, John Matthews, and John Mitchell; eighteenth-century works by African authors James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, John Marrant, and Quobna Ottabah Cugoano; and English debates about the slave trade by Thomas Clarkson, John Wesley, and William Wilberforce, as well as antislavery verse by Thomas Day and John Bicknell. "Criticism" includes six contemporary reviews of The Interesting Narrative in the Life of Olaudiah Equiano. Nine modern essays are contributed by Paul Edwards, Charles T. Davis, Houston A. Baker, Jr., Angelo Costanzo, Catherine Obianju Acholonu, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Geraldine Murphy, Adam Potkay, and Robert J. Allison. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehenive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

Teachers beware--poorly proofread edition!.......2005-04-13

This review is neither of Equiano's text itself, nor of the editorial material (both are excellent for teaching). When I ordered this text for my class, I was dismayed to discover numerous proofreading errors which generated some confusion among students. These tend not to be mispellings, but much worse: substitutions of one word for another, or omissions of important words, as though the whole text had only been run through a spell-checker. Some of these are embarrassing (Equiano's report of "the mortifying circumference of not daring to eat with the free-born children" [33-34]) and others more serious (the omitted word in the crucial sentence "I own offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a tyrant" in the first paragraph). There is probably one major error for every page of this text. I don't think this has to do with fidelity to the London first edition of 1789, although I haven't checked. The errors seem to have been introduced at Norton. So, sadly, despite Werner Sollors's excellent introduction and the useful maps prefacing the text, I can't recommend this book until Norton gets its act together. Use the texts in either Henry Louis Gates's "Pioneers of the Black Atlantic" or Vincent Carretta's "Unchained Voices" instead--the notes to the latter make it the teaching edition of choice.

Interesting indeed, an amazing account of an unusual life.......2002-07-16

"The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudiah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, written by Himself" is the story of an African man, Olaudiah Equiano (slave name: Gustavus Vassa) who was (evidently) born in 1745 in what is now Nigeria. He was captured by African slave traders, taken to the Atlantic coast, and sold into the slave trade. He was taken to the Caribbean, then Virginia, and eventually Europe. He served a ship's captain and sailed the Mediterranean and on a voyage to explore the North Pole (Greenland). He obtained his freedom and became an author and early anti-slavery activist. The publication of this book made him the best-selling black African author ever (up to that time). This book became a prototype of the "up-from-slavery" autobiography (typified by Frederick Douglass) and is a classic among Atlantic slave narratives.

The book is autobiographical and arranged chronologically, the author detailing events of his African childhood and his years as a slave and eventual self-emancipation. One notable thing about the book is the extent to which it is a travelogue: Equiano clearly enjoys telling travel tales more than decrying the horrors of slavery. His depictions of being a "stranger in a strange land" (e.g., the first time he encounters a clock, a painted portrait, books) are memorable.

Book Description

One of the most important documents in American history.

In this wrenching, classic autobiography, Douglass describes himself as a man who became a slave-and, later, a slave who became a man.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best Narratives ever read!.......2006-11-06

I loved the book from beginning to end. If you are looking for feelings, emotion, and real point of views of the slavery era this is the book for you. It is a short right to the point emotionally filled novel that always keeps you turning pages.

Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano (Broadview Literary Texts (BLT))

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Olaudah, an African Heart.
Response to Robert Allison
Response to Robert Allison
caveat emptor

Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano (Broadview Literary Texts (BLT))
Olaudah Equiano
Manufacturer: Broadview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1551112620

Book Description

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself was the first work that began the nineteenth-century genre of slave narrative autobiographies. Written and published by Equiano, a former slave, it became a prototype for those that followed.

Kidnapped in Africa as a child, Equiano was transported to the Caribbean and then to Virginia, bought by a Quaker shipowner, and placed in service at sea. Aboard various American and British ships, he sailed throughout the world, and he continued to do so after having purchased his freedom in 1766. Once settled in London, he fought tirelessly to end slavery, and his Interesting Narrative was placed on members' desks in the Houses of Parliament.

This edition of The Interesting Narrative places the text in the center of abolitionist activity in the late eighteenth century. Equiano knew many of the leading abolitionist figures of his time, and this edition allows readers to trace the common ideas and cross-influences in the works of the political and literary figures who fought for the end of slavery in America and England. The original 1789 text of the narrative has been used for the Broadview edition with Equiano's subsequent emendations included in the appendices.

Customer Reviews:

Olaudah, an African Heart........2005-11-10

Olaudah Equiano's narrative is his experience away from his dear home. The slave trade from the very beginning was one of the worst components of European history. This narrative is a moving but important historical document that recounts the hardship the slaves had to endure and survive in their nightmare to the New World.

"In this way I grew up till I had turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness..."(p.47). This way began the Olaudah's odyssey after been kidnapped and taken through many African countries reaching finally the African west coast and the slave ship that brought him/them to the West Indies and North America.

Africa, as the land of Equiano, was divided among different tribes with different organizations and related customs, in some cases speaking similar languages, in other cases as we see in the towns close to the coast, almost strangers. These tribes used to have their own defense system against the hunt and persecution of slave traffickers, which during the XVIII century it was a dark business, a daily affair, and a way of revenue.

That was the circumstance of this little boy and many others like him experiencing 'fatigue and grief'(p.47), 'violence and despair' (p.49), and wishing for death rather than anything else'(p.59). After they reached the slave ship waiting for its human cargo a chained multitude of black people of every description expressing dejection and sorrow (p.54) awaited to board in an overpopulated deck filled with horrors of every kind.

Many, as Equiano, were young and ignorant of what was happening, where they were going, and the reason for such adventure. They were told by other prisoners confessing to be 'carried to white people's country to work for them'(p.55), but of course the pain and suffering yet to come was a disguised mystery and heart destructive lifelong encounter. The living conditions of the journey were brutal and cruel: the smell, the vomiting, the cries, the anguish, and the suffocation under decks overcrowded where many of them were unable to reach the other side of the Atlantic, dying under those inhuman conditions. Sometimes some of them, embracing hopelessness, ran toward the open board and preferring death to such a life of misery, jumped into the sea (p.57), to die in the deep waters of the dark blue sea.
The Mediterranean labor shortage after the 8th century primarily brought about the African external slave trade. But the West Indies European demand for slaves changed all the institution of slavery transforming it in a deadly and huge intensive labor business. Two-thirds of all these immigrant slaves went directly to the Caribbean (Caribbean-West Indies-Brazil), and fewer than 1/20 went to Colonial North America which started 100 years later; and in 1671 we had already in Barbados (where Equiano first experienced the new world)30,000 slaves and 3,000 in Virginia.

A great deal of trembling and bitter cries from these terrified Africans of all languages did not stop whites from transporting them, as in Equiano's case, first to the island of Barbados unloading them at Bridgetown. They were transported to the merchant's yard, like sheep in a fold (p.58) without regard to sex or age. On a sign given to the buyers they run at once toward them and 'picked up' what parcel they like best. Many of them, family and friends, from that very moment were separated forever. Never to see each other again.
From the merchant's yard they were shipped to different North American Colonies as was needed and pleased the slave traders; one after another chapter of disgrace would be recounted over the 'white' shoulders for generations to come. Some slaves, as this poor boy, were taken as servants to England.
The conditions they confronted later on in sugar or rice plantations by their brutal slave codes and violent methods of control were deadly; much of the cases included diseases and no possibility to become free one day. They were treated as cheap merchandise, deprived of any human right given by our Creator.
The story of Olaudah Equiano over moistens my eyes. His narrative and lack of vengeance or hate; his imploration to the heart and the reason of supposed Christians made me feel the need to meet him and embrace him, and tell him: "Hope is not gone at all my friend.
Olaudah young boy, you were right when you cited those true gospel words:
"O, ye nominal Christians! Might not an African ask you--Learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you?"

Alejandro Roque.

Response to Robert Allison.......2000-07-13

The 1772 publication date of Gronniosaw's _Narrative_ seems to have been recently established by Vincent Carretta in _Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century_ (Kentucky, 1996), with the evidence offered on pp. 53-54. The post-1791 editions in which Equiano understandably deletes the wording "My hand is ever free--if any female Debonair wishes to obtain it" after his April 7, 1792 marriage to Susanna Cullen are the 5th (Edinburgh, 1792), the 6th & 7th (both London, 1793), the 8th (Norwich, 1794), and the 9th and last (London, 1794). My source for this information is Vincent Carretta's authoritative Penguin edition of Equiano's _Interesting Narrative_ (1995), pp. 297-297, note 633. A reader from Virginia

Response to Robert Allison.......2000-07-13

caveat emptor.......1999-03-13

Prospective buyers of Mr. Allison's edition of Equiano's autobiography should be advised that although Mr. Allison says that his "edition follows the first American printing . . . (New York, 1791)" and that "the only significant changes . . . are the insertion of paragraph breaks and notes to the text," Mr. Allison does not warn the reader that he's silently combined parts of various editions of the autobiography to form a book Equiano himself never published. For example, if you compare the next-to-the-last paragraph (p. 195), in which Equiano mentions his marriage, to the passage on page 187, where he says his hand is free, you might get the impression that he's saying he's available for adultery or bigamy. But the fault lies not in Equiano, who changed the earlier passage after he added the paragraph about his marriage in 1792. What Mr. Allison gives us is his text, not Equiano's. And he might have mentioned that the New York edition was published without Equiano's knowledge or permission. Readers should also not assume that all "facts" given are true. For example, on page 21, Gronniosaw's book was published in 1772 (not 1770), Marrant's in 1785 (not 1790), and Equiano died on 31 March 1797 (not in April).

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