Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

(Paperback)

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Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History

Winner of the Bancroft, Parkman, Los Angeles Times (biography), Lincoln, Plutarch, and Christopher Awards

Named one of the Best Books of 2018 by The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Time

As a young man Frederick Douglass (18181895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery.

Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass spoke widely, using his own story to condemn slavery. By the Civil War, Douglass had become the most famed and widely travelled orator in the nation. In his unique and eloquent voice, written and spoken, Douglass was a fierce critic of the United States as well as a radical patriot. After the war he sometimes argued politically with younger African Americans, but he never forsook either the Republican party or the cause of black civil and political rights.

In this cinematic and deeply engaging (The New York Times Book Review) biography, David Blight has drawn on new information held in a private collection that few other historian have consulted, as well as recently discovered issues of Douglasss newspapers. Absorbing and even movinga brilliant book that speaks to our own time as well as Douglasss (The Wall Street Journal), Blights biography tells the fascinating story of Douglasss two marriages and his complex extended family. David Blight has written the definitive biography of Frederick Douglassa powerful portrait of one of the most important American voices of the nineteenth century (The Boston Globe).

Reviews

Cinematic and deeply engaging. . . . a tour de force of storytelling. -- Brent Staples * The New York Times Book Review *
"Absorbing and even moving . . . Mr. Blight displays his lifelong interest in Douglass on almost every page, and his own voice is active and eloquent throughout the narrative. It is a book that speaks to our own time as well as Douglasss. . . . A brilliant book. -- John Stauffer * The Wall Street Journal *
The first major biography of Douglass in nearly three decades. . . . Blight isnt looking to overturn our understanding of Douglass, whose courage and achievements were unequivocal, but to complicate it a measure by which this ambitious and empathetic biography resoundingly succeeds. -- Jennifer Szalai * The New York Times *
Extraordinary. . . . Blight has certainly written, in the books texture and density and narrative flowone violent and provocative incident arriving right after anothera great American biography." -- Adam Gopnik * The New Yorker *
Aconsistently engrossing book that is likely to remain the definitive account of Douglasss life for many years to come. -- Eric Foner * The Nation *
A stunning achievement. Blight captures an icon in full humanity. From riveting drama in slavery and Civil War, his Douglass rises into clairvoyant genius on the blinkered centrality of race in our struggle for freedom. -- Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of America in the King Years
Extraordinary. . . . In Blights pages, [Douglasss] voice again rings out loud and clear, melancholy and triumphant still prophesying, still agitating, still calling us to action. -- Adam Goodheart * The Washington Post *
David Blight has writtenthedefinitive biography of Frederick Douglass. Withextraordinary detail he illuminates the complexities of Douglassslife and career andpaints a powerful portrait of one of the most importantAmerican voices of the 19th century. . . . Magisterial. -- Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. * The Boston Globe *

Author Bio

David W. Blightis the Sterling Professor of Historyand Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era; andRace and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory;and annotated editions of Douglasss first two autobiographies.He has worked on Douglass much of his professional life, and been awarded the Bancroft Prize, the Abraham Lincoln Prize, and the Frederick Douglass Prize, among others.