The interesting narrative of olaudah equiano – theblack history classic Ebook

Olaudah Equiano was an African writer whose experiences as a slave prompted him to become involved in the British abolition movement. 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. 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 £40 – almost a years 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. Tom Butler-Bowden was working as a political adviser in Australia when, at 25, he read Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Captivated by it and other books in the personal development field, he left his career to write the bestselling 50 Self-Help Classics, the first guide to the personal development literature and a winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award. Tom has also provided critical introductions to self-development and prosperity classics through the Capstone Classics series published by Wiley.