Overview

This definitive biography tells the story of the former slave Olaudah Equiano (1745?–1797), who in his day was the English-speaking world’s most renowned person of African descent. Equiano’s greatest legacy is his classic 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A key document of the early movement to ban the slave trade, as well as the fundamental text in the genre of the African American slave narrative, it includes the earliest known purported firsthand description by an enslaved victim of the horrific Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. Equiano, the African is filled with fresh revelations about this many-sided figure.

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9780820362984

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Reviews

A bold, daring, and meticulously researched re-creation of the life and times of the founding father of both the African and the African American literary traditions. Carretta's superbly written biography--certain to generate considerable discussion and debate--will change how we conceive of the remarkable contributions of the most important black man in the eighteenth century. This is one of the most significant biographies published about a black author in a very long time.--Henry Louis Gates Jr. W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University A remarkable man has been blessed with a superbly qualified biographer. Carretta knows more about Equiano than anyone alive, has carefully and respectfully edited his work, has boldly raised tantalizing questions about his origins, and has meticulously tracked down information about him that no one else has found. This book will be the authoritative source about Equiano's life for many years to come. --Adam Hochschild author of Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves This biography provides an accurate, fair-minded, reliable, and engagingly written account of the life of the man whom Carretta describes justifiably as 'the most famous person of African descent in the Atlantic world.' In this rewarding study, Carretta invests the large store of erudition he has amassed from many years of assiduous study of Equiano's life and times. I know of no scholar who is as steeped in Equiano and no one who has done more to restore Equiano and his literary work to serious scholarly consideration. --William L. Andrews University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [A] historical work of surpassing importance. --Kirkus Reviews Provides a masterful, lively and scrupulously researched account that questions central parts of the ex-slaves narrative, but upholds his view of himself as a self-made man . . . Carretta's exemplary study offers not only the definitive biography of Equiano but also a first-rate social history of the late 18th century in America and in England. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) This is a thoroughly rich, engrossing, and well-researched portrait of an exceptional man and the cause he championed. --Booklist (starred review) Vassa remains a subject worthy of continued study and research . . . Carretta's biography is now the standard reference on the life and times of this 'African' intellectual. --Journal of Southern History With an impressive breadth of knowledge of the religious, literary, social, and cultural conditions of Equiano's time, Carretta's work in fourteen chapters frames an inquiry from which scholars of several disciplines will surely benefit. . . . truly engaging social and cultural contextualization. --Journal of African American History

"A bold, daring, and meticulously researched re-creation of the life and times of the founding father of both the African and the African American literary traditions. Carretta's superbly written biography--certain to generate considerable discussion and debate--will change how we conceive of the remarkable contributions of the most important black man in the eighteenth century. This is one of the most significant biographies published about a black author in a very long time.--Henry Louis Gates Jr. ""W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University"" A remarkable man has been blessed with a superbly qualified biographer. Carretta knows more about Equiano than anyone alive, has carefully and respectfully edited his work, has boldly raised tantalizing questions about his origins, and has meticulously tracked down information about him that no one else has found. This book will be the authoritative source about Equiano's life for many years to come. --Adam Hochschild ""author of Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves"" This biography provides an accurate, fair-minded, reliable, and engagingly written account of the life of the man whom Carretta describes justifiably as 'the most famous person of African descent in the Atlantic world.' In this rewarding study, Carretta invests the large store of erudition he has amassed from many years of assiduous study of Equiano's life and times. I know of no scholar who is as steeped in Equiano and no one who has done more to restore Equiano and his literary work to serious scholarly consideration. --William L. Andrews ""University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"" [A] historical work of surpassing importance. --Kirkus Reviews Provides a masterful, lively and scrupulously researched account that questions central parts of the ex-slaves narrative, but upholds his view of himself as a self-made man . . . Carretta's exemplary study offers not only the definitive biography of Equiano but also a first-rate social history of the late 18th century in America and in England. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) This is a thoroughly rich, engrossing, and well-researched portrait of an exceptional man and the cause he championed. --Booklist (starred review) Vassa remains a subject worthy of continued study and research . . . Carretta's biography is now the standard reference on the life and times of this 'African' intellectual. --Journal of Southern History With an impressive breadth of knowledge of the religious, literary, social, and cultural conditions of Equiano's time, Carretta's work in fourteen chapters frames an inquiry from which scholars of several disciplines will surely benefit. . . . truly engaging social and cultural contextualization. --Journal of African American History"

Author Information

Vincent Carretta is professor emeritus of English at the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of more than ten books, including scholarly editions of the writings of Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatley Peters, Ignatius Sancho, and Ottobah Cugoano. His books include Phillis Wheatley Peters: Biography of a Genius in Bondage and The Life and Letters of Philip Quaque, the First African Anglican Missionary, coedited with Ty M. Reese (both Georgia). He lives in Springfield, Virginia.

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