The Life of Olaudah Equiano first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The narrative represents a variety of styles, including slavery narrative, travel narrative, and spiritual narrative. The book describes Equiano's time spent in enslavement, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom.


Born in the area that is now southern Nigeria, he was kidnapped with his sister at around the age of 11, sold by local slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to Barbados and then Virginia. After spells in Barbados and Virginia, he spent eight years travelling the world as slave to a British Royal Navy officer, who renamed him Gustavus Vassa. His final master, an English merchant in Montserrat, let him buy his freedom for GBP40 - almost a year's salary. Equiano worked as an explorer and merchant for 20 years, and eventually settled in England, the country where he had converted to Christianity in 1759. With the encouragement of the Abolitionists, who campaigned against the slave trade, he published his memoirs in 1789.

Part of the best selling Capstone Classics Series, this collectable hardback edition is a volume which will occupy a prominent place in any library for years to come.