The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

by Olaudah Equiano

Overview

WITH A FOREWORD BY DAVID OLUSOGA

This is the extraordinary story of Olaudah Equiano: Child slave. Soldier. Free man. Traveller. Abolitionist. Celebrity.

Kidnapped as a child into slavery, Equiano spent the rest of his life fighting for his freedom. After years of slavery, working on ships that carried him across empire and into battle during the Seven Years War, he eventually managed to purchase his own freedom, and went on to become a leading figure in the early abolition movement.

Published to coincide with the first attempt to abolish the slave trade in 1789, Equiano's remarkable autobiography became a sensation and turned its author into the most famous Black person in Georgian Britain.

As vivid and powerful today as it was in 1789, Equiano's story is the most significant autobiographical account of slavery to emerge from Britain's centuries as a slave trading power. In this JM Classics edition, leading historian David Olusoga's introduction sets Equiano's book in its historical context, helping us to understand the man himself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399827799
Publisher:	John Murray Press
Publication date:	08/14/2025
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in the former Kingdom of Benin. Sold into slavery at the age of ten, he purchased his freedom as an adult and became a leading figure in the abolitionist movement. His memoir The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, published in 1789, was a bestseller and went through nine different editions. He died in 1797.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Olaudah Equiano: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself.

Appendix A: Letters and Reviews

1. Letters and Reviews Added to Later Editions of The Interesting Narrative
2. Reviews of The Interesting Narrative Not Included in Equiano’s Editions
1. The Analytical Review, May 1789
2. The Gentleman’s Magazine, June 1789
3. The Oracle, 25 April, 1792
4. The Star, 27 April, 1792

Appendix B: Writings of the First Abolitionist Movement

1. Anthony Benezet, A Caution to Great Britain and her Colonies (1766)
2. Anthony Benezet, Some Historical Account of Guinea (1771)
3. Edmund Burke, An Account of the European Settlements in America (1758)
4. Thomas Clarkson, An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African (1788)
5. William Cowper,“The Negro’s Complaint” (1788)
6. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer (1782)
7. Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1787)
8. Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (1788)
9. Gilbert Francklyn, An Answer to the Rev. Mr. Clarkson’s Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, particularly the African (1789)
10. Benjamin Franklin, “On the Slave Trade” (1790)
11. James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1772)
12. Raymund Harris, Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the Slave-Trade (1788)
13. David Hume,“Of National Characters” (1753-54)
14. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1787)
15. John Marrant, A Narrative of the Lord’s Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, a Black (1785)
16. John Newton, Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade (1788)
17. Malachy Postlethwayt, Britain’s Commercial Interest Explained and Improved (1757)
18. James Ramsay, An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies (1784)
19. Benjamin Rush, A Vindication of the Address, to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements, on the Slavery of the Negroes in America (1773)
20. Ignatius Sancho, Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho (1782)
21. Granville Sharp, A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery (1769)
22. James Tobin, Cursory Remarks upon the Reverend Mr. Ramsay’s Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies (1785)
23. Gordon Turnbull, An Apology for Negro Slavery (1786)
24. John Wesley, Thoughts upon Slavery (1774)
25. William Wilberforce, The Speech of William Wilberforce … on the Question of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1789)
26. Helen Maria Williams, “A Poem on the Bill Lately Passed for Regulating the Slave Trade” (1788)
27. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)
28. John Woolman, Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1754

Select Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

This new edition of Equiano…will become the text of choice for both scholars and students of the Black Atlantic.” — African American Review

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is the foundational text of African-American autobiography. This welcome edition, ably edited by Angelo Costanzo, provides readers of today a generous introduction to Equiano’s life and times in a highly readable and informative format.” — William L. Andrews, University North Carolina, Chapel Hill

From the Publisher