Product Description

Former slave, orator, journalist, autobiographer; revolutionary on behalf of a just America, Frederick Douglass was a towering figure, at once consummately charistmatic and flawed. His "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" (1945) galvanized the antislavery movement and is one of the truly seminal works of African-American literature. In this masterful and compelling biography, William S. McFeely captures the many sides of Douglass - his boyhood on the Chesapeake; his self-education; his rebellion and rising expectations; his marriage, affairs, and intense friendships; his bitter defeats and trascendent courage - and recreates the high drama of a turbulent era.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1954850 in Books
• Published on: 1995-11-09
• Released on: 1995-11-09
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.60 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Historian McFeeley's biography recounts Douglass's transformation from self-taught escaped slave to the preeminent 19th-century civil rights leader.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-- This excellent biography fluently tells the life story of Douglass, one of the 19th century's most famous writers and speakers on abolitionist and human rights causes. It traces his life from his birth as a slave in Maryland, through his self-education, escape to freedom, and subsequent lionization as a renowned orator in England and the United States. Readers familiar with his life will be grateful for the little-known information about his family, and a general audience will enjoy the well-rounded, literate stories of Douglass's contemporaries. Fascinating, too, are accounts of the era's politics, such as the racist views held by some abolitionist leaders and the ways in which many policies made in post-Civil War times have worked to the detriment of today's civil rights movement. The chapter on Frederick Douglass and John Brown is, in itself, interesting enough to commend this powerful biography. The seldom-seen photographs, the careful chapter notes, documentation, and acknowledgements will encourage YAs to become not only dedicated Douglass historians but also avid William McFeely fans.
- Isabelle Bligh, Edison High School, Alexandria,
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ingram
A former slave, orator, journalist, autobiographer, and revolutionary on behalf of a just America, Douglass was a towering figure, at once consumately charismatic and flawed. In this biography, fresh and incisive in its research and interpretation, Freeley captures the many sides of this great and complex American, and recreates the high drama of a turbulent era.