Frederick Douglass traces the life of the formerly enslaved abolitionist who became one of the most influential writers and orators of nineteenth-century America. It follows his escape from slavery, the publication of his autobiographies, his lecture tours and his work as an editor and political campaigner.
The biography places Douglass at the centre of debates over abolition, Black citizenship, women’s rights and the Civil War. It examines his pressure on Abraham Lincoln, his support for African American enlistment and his later insistence that emancipation had to be followed by equal civil and political rights.
