The text of Equiano's narrative presented here is that of the 1789 first edition, and is accompanied by an introduction, maps, illustrations and annotation. A section on contexts of the narrative provides autobiographical and historical background, while criticism contains reviews and essays.

Allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries - but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own.

Recounts the kidnapping of the author in Africa aged ten, his service as a slave of an officer in the British Navy for ten years, and his life after he bought his freedom in 1766, growing to become one of the foremost figures of the anti-slavery movement in Britain. This autobiography presents a tale of spiritual quest.

Brings together the works of four Afro-Anglican writers who published between 1774 and 1789. These writers adapt the conventions of the Christian conversion narrative to meet their own needs, creating a new genre, the black spiritual autobiography - which still influences black writing today.

Originally entitled 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano', this was a bestseller when first published in 1789 and is a prototype for the nineteenth century slave narrative.

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