Description

Nigerian-born Olaudah Equiano (c.1745-97), also known as Gustavus Vassa, was sold into slavery as a child and endured the horrors of the transatlantic slave ships. He later worked on board Royal Navy vessels, receiving an education and converting to Christianity. Buying his freedom in 1766, he embarked on several voyages before settling in London, where he became involved in the causes of anti-slavery and the welfare of former slaves. Published in 1789, this successful two-volume autobiography boosted the abolitionist cause, providing a first-hand account of the experience of Africans on both sides of the Atlantic. It remains a classic work of black writing. Volume 1 covers Equiano's kidnapping and the Atlantic crossing, his adventures in the Royal Navy, and experiences in merchant trading in the Americas. Volume 2 recounts how Equiano achieved his freedom, his religious conversion, his experience of shipwreck in the West Indies, and his life in England.