Twelve Years a Slave

Solomon Northup

Aug 2026 · Broadview Press

Ebook

330

Pages

Tools

Eligible

Switch to the audiobook

About this ebook

Twelve Years a Slave is one of the most important firsthand accounts of American slavery. Solomon Northup’s narrative recounts his extraordinary experience of being kidnapped from his home in New York and sold into bondage in Louisiana, offering a vivid portrait of life under slavery and of his struggle to maintain his humanity in the face of brutality.

This Broadview Edition is based on the 1853 first edition and includes the original illustrations. It situates Northup’s narrative within the literary, historical, and political world of antebellum America, exploring its authorship, reception, and relationship to the broader tradition of slave narratives. The appendices gather a wide range of primary sources that illuminate the world surrounding Northup’s narrative, including proslavery and antislavery writings from the period, fugitive slave laws and Underground Railroad materials, images, and contemporary responses to the narrative itself.

Twelve Years a Slave is one of the most important firsthand accounts of American slavery. Solomon Northup’s narrative recounts his extraordinary experience of being kidnapped from his home in New York and sold into bondage in Louisiana, offering a vivid portrait of life under slavery and of his s...

Discover more

About the author

Christopher G. Diller is a Professor of English at Berry College. He is the editor of the Broadview Edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and co-editor of the Broadview Edition of Twelve Years a Slave.

Karen Cook Bell is Chair and Wilson H. Elkins Professor of History at Bowie State University.

Christopher G. Diller is a Professor of English at Berry College. He is the editor of the Broadview Edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and co-editor of the Broadview Edition of Twelve Years a Slave. Karen Cook Bell is Chair and Wilson H. Elkins Professor of History at Bowie State University.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate