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This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography.

Customer Reviews (2)

The accessibility and readability of this edition make it a must-have for a Kindle
Works of Frederick Douglass. Including My Bondage and My Freedom, My Escape from Slavery, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass & more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

Douglass's uncompromising hatred of slavery and his tireless efforts to lay bare its horrors make this ebook a bitter testimonial to the evils of human bondage as it was practiced in the South and condoned by the U.S. Constitution.

great ebook
Works of Frederick Douglass. Including My Bondage and My Freedom, My Escape from Slavery, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass & more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

This book challenges the most basic assumptions we hold about justice, liberty, freedom, living out our faith, respect for human life and dignity. Written well over a century ago, it is still essential reading if a person is to be an educated American citizen. ... Read more

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A major history of Civil War America through the lens of its two towering figures: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

"My husband considered you a dear friend," Mary Todd Lincoln wrote to Frederick Douglass in the weeks after Lincoln's assassination. The frontier lawyer and the former slave, the cautious politician and the fiery reformer, the president and the most famous black man in America—their lives traced different paths that finally met in the bloody landscape of secession, Civil War, and emancipation. Opponents at first, they gradually became allies, each influenced by and attracted to the other. Their three meetings in the White House signaled a profound shift in the direction of the Civil War, and in the fate of the United States. In this first book to draw the two together, James Oakes has written a masterful narrative history. He brings these two iconic figures to life and sheds new light on the central issues of slavery, race, and equality in Civil War America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Lincoln and Douglass: a Political Friendship
This is a very fine biographical history by Professor of History, James Oakes. For the student of American slavery, race relations, and the history of African American emancipation, this is a captivating digest of two monumental characters.Frederick Douglass was a single-issue advocate for emancipation. Abraham Lincoln was the President who had to manage multiple crises, the most obvious being the challenge of restoring the Union. Douglass and Lincoln met three times. Lincoln called him "my friend, Douglass."Lincoln invited Douglass into his office ahead of others waiting to see the President.Lincoln insisted that Douglass be ushered into the White House at the second inaugural party.Of course he did.Douglass was the most popular black man in the African American community. Lincoln was as astute a politician as any, and faced difficult issues that lay ahead for shaping the civil rights of four million recently emancipated Americans of color in a defeated South.He would need Douglass as an ally. It may be a stretch, though, to make much more of their friendship or commonalities than that. Oakes tries.

Surely Abraham Lincoln was moved by the events of the war as much as anything. Once African Americans entered Union military service as United States Colored Troops, his position on the abolition of slavery became virtually non-negotiable. Could Lincoln have done more to alter the course of events in the South from 1865 to 1877?Maybe.Douglass thought so. As the years wore on Douglass burnished Lincoln's memory, calling him "the most Godlike person I have ever known."Douglass eventually forgot that in 1864 he was searching for another presidential candidate in lieu of Lincoln serving a second term. Lincoln was moving too slowly and Douglass feared a negotiated peace with slavery being preserved in the Confederate states.He wanted someone with "a studier anti-slavery backbone." On this score, his fears were utterly misplaced, as Professor James Oakes points out. A well-written narrative ending with acomprehensive historiography captioned FOR FURTHER READING.

Lincoln-Douglass Acquires New Meaning
Lincoln versus Douglas often conjures the legendary rivalry of our 16th president and his opponent for public office and fellow Illinoisan, Stephen Douglas. But Oakes' treatise on the evolution of Lincoln's political thought compared to that of Frederick Douglass makes a compelling case that the latter Douglass is the more important to the larger American narrative of abolition, emancipation, and civil rights. Oakes takes a unique approach to his subjects by comparing and contrasting their political positions vis-à-vis slavery along the same timeline.

It is often taken for granted that Lincoln was opposed to slavery and wanted it abolished. That may or may not be true, but he had to negotiate nearly impossible pragmatic and political obstacles in order to gain popular support for his policies. Oakes brings these political realities to life with a refreshing clarity.

Likewise, history tends to look at Douglass as a man who supported anything and anyone who opposed slavery in principle. As this book makes clear, it was more complicated than that--Douglass made friends and enemies every time he spoke of a slight change in his position. Oakes uses hundreds of primary documents, including a substantial amount of his subjects' own writings, to illuminate the those changes.

Lincoln and Douglass were at seeming odds much of the time, but as the years passed, their positions converged. The Radical and the Republican illustrates the convergences insightfully and cogently.

This book was a wonderful read.

Which is which?
As the anti-slavery movement slowly grew two of it's leaders came from divergent backgrounds, went about things differently, and yet despite earlier animosity grew to be friends and respect each other. In his Lincoln Prize winning work James Oakes shows the intertwined yet different paths of Frederick Douglass, the radical, and Abraham Lincoln, the Republican.

Lincoln began his political life as a devoted follower of Henry Clay and the Whig party. While Clay was against slavery he also believed that once freed they should be relocated to Africa. From this Lincoln's views developed and led him to a group that ultimately became the Republican party. Republican beliefs included the fact that while slavery was wrong it would be allowed to continue where it was and that the Fugitive Slave Act would be enforced. Slavery however would not be allowed to expand to any new territory. Slavery would eventually die out due to it's inefficient use of labor. Douglass on the other hand was born a slave and after escaping north became a devoted follower of noted abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Garrisonians were pacifists who believed that slavery degraded everything and everybody it touched. They worked through "Moral Persuasion" which in effect meant that they denounced anybody or thing that was not blatantly anti-slavery. In their mind this included the Constitution which they condemned as being pro-slavery. After returning from England Douglass began taking a more active interest in anti-slavery politics and after moving to Rochester, NY he began publishing The North Star, a newspaper with an anti-slavery bent. Here he also began to slowly convert to the views of Gerrit Smith who believed that the Constitution was actually not a pro-slavery document. He reasoned that the words of the document are what mattered and not what people felt the intent was. Seeing that slavery was not specifically mentioned clauses could not be assumed to apply to slavery itself. By 1851 he had converted to this view.

In October 1859 John Brown led his ill fated raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, VA. This attempt to lead a slave uprising failed completely and ultimately cost Brown his life. Douglass considered Brown a hero and his relations with Brown led to Douglass going into exile for several months first to Canada and then to Great Britain. He would not be gone long however. Northern politicians, including Lincoln, were quick to distance themselves from the "madman". Lincoln was a believer in the rule of law in the attempt to end slavery. Actions like John Brown's raid were unacceptable and could actually work against the abolition movement.

As the 1850s came to a close the major difference between Douglass and Lincoln was in their views of the Constitution and what it allowed. Douglass, believing it to be an anti-slavery document thought that the federal government was obligated to work aggressively end slavery. Despite his personal views Lincoln believed that the Constitution recognized slavery where it already existed and thus the government could not interfere. It could prevent expansion but not eliminate it where it already existed. Here Oakes points out a key difference in the two men. Douglass demanded action and that by eliminating slavery racism could be eliminated. Douglass thought northern racism was the "spirit of slavery" making its way into other parts of the country. For Lincoln race and slavery were not the same; not having a black woman for a slave did not mean he wanted her for a wife. Lincoln felt that slavery was a dying institution and was being killed by southern states continuing to make a focal point of it. In addition, once states seceded from the Union Lincoln felt he was no longer obliged to keep his promises regarding the protection of slavery.

Lincoln and Douglass met on three occasions. A mutual respect was earned with Lincoln enrolling Douglass to help spread the word of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln, the Republican, made a lasting impression on Douglass, the radical, in his sincerity toward ending slavery. Even after Lincoln's death Douglass continued to promote Lincoln and the ways he went about ending slavery.

This is an enjoyable book to read. It is accessible without being simple. Oakes has used the words of these great men as much as possible and has noted them well for further research if you are inclined. While certainly not a "Civil War" book this is one that should be read by anybody interested in the wars time frame, who has an interest in Lincoln or Douglass, or wishes to further understand the issues that brought our country to war.

Fine but not great
This is a very good book about two great Americans.It is also a pretty good analysis of how politics works, and the very different roles played by activists and statesmen. It gives you some insight into how great a man Lincoln really was, but not as much as Doris Kearns Goodwin's magnificent Team of Rivals. And it gives you a great many insights into why Douglass was a more flawed but still impressive man.

In the end the book feels a tad "slight," not quite up to the large task Oakes set out to accomplish. As Douglass gains respect over time for Lincoln we see glimmers of why that might be, but Oakes seems to have more academic distance from what he really believes than he needs to have.It is as if he is not quite willing to accept that Douglass came to admire and even love Lincoln for his extraordinary qualities of decency and courage. Decency that Lincoln exhibited as he so often did by embracing Douglass despite the meanness of many of Douglass' comments towards him, because Lincoln had an almost other-worldly ability to see the world from another man's point of view.

There is something very beautiful about how these two men drew closer over the course of the nation's great struggle to end slavery.

Many other contemporaries missed the power and wisdom of Lincoln's Second Inaugural speech.Not Douglass, who was there in person and, despite many obstacles, made his way to the East Room of the White House to personally congratulate Lincoln. Lincoln made sure he was permitted to enter saying, "Here comes my friend Douglass."He then asked Douglass for his opinion, because he valued it.Douglass replied: "Mr. Lincoln, that was a sacred effort."

It was indeed a sacred effort. And that exchange between these two men of great character should be the centerpiece of this study.While Oakes carefully explains how they both arrived at that moment, he misses much of the drama.And that is a shame, because there are few moments in American life more full of meaning and symbolism.

A refreshing, challenging, stimulating, thought-provoking look at both men
On Douglass, Oakes looks at how he moved from radical to politician throughout his life, including wedding himself so much to the GOP in his last years that he apparently never entertained the idea of a "Free Vote Party" paralleling the Liberty Party of his younger days.

No, it's not a full bio, but it leads to further questions. Was this the "settling" of an old man? Was it an evolving pragmatism? Did getting a patronage job bank his inner fires?

On Lincoln, Oakes takes a careful look at the long-debated issue as to whether or not he had any racist bones, either before election to the presidency or even after.

On 126-29, Oakes tackles the pre-1860 politics of Lincoln re black-white relations beyond slavery with depth. He says Lincoln simply accepted white intransigence was so great that blacks never could have equality and that it was not a case of Lincoln himself rejecting racial equality. Nonetheless, Oakes believes "spineless" is a legitimate charge, as is "cynical."

More serious are some of the themes from a pro-colonization lecture, in essence, Lincoln gave to northern black leaders shortly before announcing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Oakes sees this as a more cynical version of Lincoln's 1850 stance on accepting white racism even though Lincoln didn't hold to it himself. After claiming in the past "racism" and "slavery" were different, Oakes says Lincoln now tried to conflate them with a cheap syllogism.

This level of analysis is what makes the book all of the things I said in my header.

No, again, this is not a complete dual bio. But Oakes' excellent "For Further Reading" appendix points to the best bios on both men, as well as takes on the Civil War militarily and socially, Reconstruction and more. ... Read more

Product Description
Traces the progression of the civil rights movement and its effect on history through biographical sketches of four prominent and influential African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An eye opener
This book has given me a broader look into the life and times of blacks in America.It has encouraged me to get a more indepth perspective of our contribution to this country and why it is more-often-than-not completely ignored. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

a real eye opener
This is one of the most eye opening pieces of literature that I ever had the pleasure to read.I really feel that if everyone read this book the there would not be such a problem with racism. I think that the book has not recieved the commendation that it deserves because many people areafraid of its contents and what it means to their lives - their ancestorswere the cause of much of the horror and abuse that follows the abominationof slavery. It is one of the best books that I have ever read and I wouldcertainly recommend it to those who are not too scared to read it. As forit being a piece of abolitionist rubbish-No way!Douglass was certainly notthe only writer to portray his life of slavery in this context- they allcan't be lying. Also, what right have we to be so critical of his life-This is his autobiography, not a pamphlet to try and rouse the massesagainst slavery and racism.

a real eye opener
This is one of the most eye opening pieces of literature that I ever had the pleasure to read.I really feel that if everyone read this book the there would not be such a problem with racism. I think that the book has not recieved the commendation that it deserves because many people areafraid of its contents and what it means to their lives - their ancestorswere the cause of much of the horror and abuse that follows the abominationof slavery. It is one of the best books that I have ever read and I wouldcertainly recommend it to those who are not too scared to read it. As forit being a piece of abolitionist rubbish-No way!Douglass was certainly notthe only writer to portray his life of slavery in this context- they allcan't be lying. Also, what right have we to be so critical of his life-This is his autobiography, not a pamphlet to try and rouse the massesagainst slavery and racism.

A shallow story
This book lacks everything which it needs. Past the third chapter, the story begins to roll, but before that, it reads very much like an abolitionist pamphlet. I am very much in favor of what the novel tries toexpress, but the blatant way in which the message is conveyed takes awayfrom the entire book. For a look at the institution of slavery and severalexamples of brutality from the Frederick Douglass' life, this is a goodbook, but do not expect to be moved or to feel as if you experienced thehorror of the time. It could have been done better.

Every student in America should read this book.
Fredrick Douglass provides a remarkable look at the daily life of a slave. He explains the mechanisms used to maintain the slave system and how it affected the people involved.Many of his observations about education andeconomics are still valid. The writing style is not dated or affected.The stories are interesting and move quickly. ... Read more

Product Description
The Oxford Frederick Douglass Reader collects in one volume the most outstanding and representative work from Frederick Douglass's fifty year writing career. The reader contains the following classic texts in their entirety: the landmark fugitive slave narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845), the consummate anti-slavery oration, "What To the Slave Is the Fourth of July" (1852), the pioneering novella, The Heroic Slave (1853), and the magisterial analysis of lynching, Lessons of the Hour (1894). Also included are notable examples of Douglass's journalism, in which he advocated women's rights and black enlistment in the Civil War. Generous selections from My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) illustrate Douglass's boldly revisionist personal and political agenda in his second autobiography. Major chapters from both the 1881 and the 1892 editions of the final autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, reveal the author's perspective on his own successes and his estimate of the nation's progress on the racial front in the post-war era. The introduction by Andrews offers a thoughtful review of the crucial developments in Douglass's multi-faceted career as autobiographer, journalist, lecturer and racial spokesman. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Most interesting read.
PETER TEIMAN FRANKLIN here,
Fascinating introduction, much better than it's competitors.Great read.
PETER TEIMAN FRANKLIN,
Sweden

Beautiful Writing
This was a wonderfully edited version of some of the best writing Douglass ever wrote. The introduction is excellent and the intros to the excerpts of some of his letters and editorials are very informative. One of the bestFrederick Douglass books I have ever read. ... Read more

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WINNER OF THE 2003 PEN OAKLAND JOSEPHINE MILES AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING WRITING AND THE BLACK CAUCUS OF THE ALA LITERARY AWARD

Frederick Douglass, the great African-American abolitionist, was a man who cherished freedom in life and in love. In this ambitious work of historical fiction, Douglass' passions come vividly to life in the form of two women: Anna Murray Douglass and Ottilie Assing.

Douglass' Women is an imaginative rendering of these two women -- one black, the other white -- in Douglass' life. Anna, his wife, was a free woman of color who helped Douglass escape as a slave. She bore Douglass five children and provided him with a secure, loving home while he traveled the world with his message. Along the way, Douglass satisfied his intellectual needs in the company of Ottilie Assing, a white woman of German-Jewish descent, who would become his mistress for decades to come. How these two women find solidarity in their shared love for Douglass -- and his vision for a free America -- is at the heart of Jewell Parker Rhodes' extraordinary, epic novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

A book club reader
Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on thruth.I have a great admiration for the women in Douglass' life but I have a lower opinion of Douglass himself.This is a must read, very informative and entertaining.I couldn't put the book down.

Biracial Harlequin Romance
The book was an easy read but it consisted of a lot of bed hopping circa 1800s. Not my thing.

Refreshing change from the typical story lines we see today
I truly enjoyed this read.I loved the details the author used to describe the setting...this book was romantic, it made you cry, laugh, angry, wanna climb into the story and talk some since into Mr. Douglas' wife...just a really great read.I recommend this book to all.Such a refreshing switch from the typical: "my man left, I am angry now I must get revenge" story lines that crowd the market today.Nice to read embellished historical books.I wish there were more!

Wonderful Book but I think
I'm Bipolar now...reason being...I have gone through so many different emotions reading this book. I have almost cried, became angry and laughed to keep from crying. I felt sorry for Anna, having been the one to finance Freddy's freedom only to get dumped on and ignored for the rest of her life. Except for the short visits which left her pregnant. I can actually see why she wouldn't want to learn to read, she wanted to at first because she admired Freddy, but later on she despised it. And then to have him actually move his lover in the house...okay wait a minute. I have no sympathy at all for Ottilie. Anyway, this was a great book and if I could give it more stars I would.

Portraits of two believable women
Like all historical fiction, this book conveys the author's vision of what might have happened, not what actually happened.Hard historical details of the lives of Frederick Douglass's black wife and white mistress are patchy.However, the reader feels that Jewell Parker Rhodes is probably near the mark with her characterization of Douglass as an ego-driven man, handsome and charismatic, who knew how to charm women both in and out of bed.You feel the power of his first wife Anna, a black woman with every disadvantage except her inner strength, moral character, and love.And Ottilie is like many white women whose sails unfurl and mast crumbles when their man abandons them.(I used to be one of them.)This engaging story is believable as a metaphor for the truth even though it's not the literal truth.I couldn't put the book down until I'd finished it.Since then, I've searched the web for images of Anna and Ottilie without much luck.I'd love see photos of Ottilie's paintings.The author brought these women to life for me. ... Read more

Product Description
Recounting his life in and his escape out of slavery, the autobiography of the inspirational abolitionist Frederick Douglass is a powerful and insightful narration that has made a significant impact in America's history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent!
Very short & to the point, Douglass paints the picture of being a slave better than any other book I've read on the subject. His first hand account blows away 'Roots' or even the 'Confessions of Nat Turner' with its simple, understated prose. Huge thanks to Nancy, a friend on Goodreads.com, that recommended & gave me the book.

Why would a man remain in slavery when there was any chance of escape? This is a question I've always wondered about. He tells us. The courage & determination that it took him to make that leap was incredible. His simple account of what people can endure is heart wrenching.

The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars was the editor. I can't recall his name, but he is a professor at Columbia University & must think his audience is a bunch of idiots. His long winded introduction basically tells Douglass' entire story. It was a spoiler & redundant. The original publication had another introduction that is also included. This was doubly redundant due to the first, but would have been far better if just it was included.

The editor's constant footnotes, defining well known words that are well used in context, were distracting & occasionally incorrect. The end notes were better, but should have been footnotes instead. I was left with the impression that the editor was trying to impress me rather than help me understand Douglass' story. Blech!

Douglass has written his autobiography in several versions. This was his first. I'd be interested in finding a later one, especially with a different editor. In any case, for all the faults of the editor, the basic story is something that I recommend everyone read. ... Read more

Product Description
Portrays the life of the fugitive slave, abolitionist, and diplomat, paying attention to the meaning of freedom in America during the Civil War era and Douglass' significance to the struggle for human and civil rights. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Disappointing for the price
I read this book hoping for an insightful biographical account; for the presentation, the length, and the price, I was expecting a penetrating look into this remarkable figure's life.

Instead, there was a great deal of fluff.No nonsense involved, but I got the impression that for the list price, I should have been getting a well-researched, highly-documented and -footnoted hardcover.

The author cannot seem to decide whether he is aiming for a dramatic narrative or serious-minded historical account, and his ambivalence between the two styles and the general pace tends to lend a disappointing cast to the book overall.

Awful Book
I had to read Slave and Citizen for a class in college and I was very disappointed in the book.I couldn't wait to finish the book just so I would be done with it.It dragged on and on. I would not have finished it had I not had to.I would not recommend it unless you are very interested in this subject.

A slow-moving book, full of repetative information.
I did not at all enjoy "Slave and Citizen."Nathan Irvin Huggins' writing dragged, and information seemed to be frequently repeated.I was disappointed that the vast majority of the book was political innature.Douglass' personal life was focused upon very little.His timespent as a slave and in childhood was touched upon only very lightly. Likewise, his marriages and children were only briefly mentioned.The restof the book, which could have been adequately summarized in just a fewpages, drug on and on.I was disappointed, and will be searching for amore personal biography of Douglass to read. ... Read more

Product Description
Douglass wrote this autobiography which was published in 1855.Douglass was born in Maryland and separated from his mother when he was an infant.Some scholars think he was descendant from American Muslins.When he was 12 his owner's wife broke the law by teaching him to read.The neighborhood children helped him with his reading and writing.As a teenager he spent a few years with a farmer known to be a slave breaker. He later obtained his freedom and became a well-known abolitionist. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduce young readers to great historical figures! Learn about major life events, from childhood to adult years. A time line in each book captures important details, one event at a time, culminating in a complete summary on the final page. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Easy to Read Biography
I bought this for my classroom library. Students can easily read about Fredrick Douglas because of the easy readability.

I sometimes use this book to teach reading skills to my students. This is a great book to use for compare/contrast in a reading center. Students can easily find the information. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best introduction to problems of the Civil War for beginners
Foner's book is not only an important biography of Frederick Douglass, but also an excellent introduction for beginners, i.e. those who prefer studying history as reflected in historical personalities rather than in dry chronicles, into the problems of the American Civil War, the problems leading to it and its results. ... Read more

Product Description
In this nuanced, sympathetic interpretation of two extraordinary lives, Maria Diedrich acquaints us with an important and little-known relationship. Ottilie Assing, an intrepid German journalist, met and interviewed Frederick Douglass in 1856, and it was an encounter that transformed the lives of both. Diedrich reveals in fascinating detail their intimate twenty-eight-year relationship, their shared intellectual and cultural interests, and their work together on Douglass's abolitionist writings. Love Across Color Lines is a profound meditation on nineteenth-century racial, class, and national boundaries, and offers new insights into the career of a preeminent American leader.Amazon.com Review
Mulatto ex-slave Frederick Douglass and half-Jewish,German-bred journalist Ottilie Assing were unlikely candidates forromance when they met in New York in 1856. But what began as aninterview for a biography on the famed African American abolitionistturned into a torrid, extramarital love affair that lasted 28years. In Love Across Color Lines, Maria Diedrich explores thelabyrinthine sexual, social, and racial conventions of 19th-centuryAmerican society with which these two intelligent people had tocontend. Through Douglass and Assing's letters, Diedrich reconstructsthe triumph and tragedy of their union. "Douglass was enchanted withhis German companion, but he never again forgot that any liaison witha white woman could prove fatal to his political mission," shewrites. "Assing," meanwhile, "respected the burden he had taken uponhimself. She defied conventional notions of morality and became bothintellectually and physically intimate with this extraordinary man,certain that he would marry her." When Douglass's wife died, however,he eventually married another (younger, white) woman--and Assingcommitted suicide. In addition to uncovering a vital aspect ofDouglass's personal life largely overlooked by previous biographers,Diedrich's informative work looks at Assing's remarkable sacrifice,powered by a love that propelled her into America's bewildering racialwilderness. --Eugene Holley Jr. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book!
My daughter needed this book for class and the price was right!

Assing & Douglass: Radicalism Beyond Social Taboos
A decade ago no one had heard of Ottilie Assing or had a clue that she played an important role not only in shaping European perceptions of the US in the crucial years up to and including the Civil War but in her role ascollaborator and lover of Douglass for almost 30 years. Then, TerencePickett, a scholar of German literature doing research in Poland, stumbledon a folder of letters that revealed an intimate acquaintance andpassionate involvement between the German immigrant journalist and theAmerican abolitionist. Pickett cautiously called it a friendship, but whenWilliam McFeeley used this information in his 1991 Douglass biography, hestrongly suspected that the relationship went beyond friendship.HenryLouis Gates, Jr., choosing his words carefully, has meanwhile alsoconcluded that for "much of Douglass's mature career, Assing was hisprincipal intellectual consort." Maria Diedrich's "Love AcrossColor Lines" finally gives a detailed and thoroughly researchedaccount of the life of this extraordinary woman, her background, commitmentto radical causes, emigration in 1852, involvement in abolitionism,passionate attachment to Douglass, and her courageous but tragic end. It isan amazing story, deeply embedded in the stormy social and politicalconditions on both sides of the Atlantic. One consistent theme is thatAssing's commitment to social revolution, having been frustrated by thebotched events of 1848-49 in Germany, plays itself out in her support ofradical abolitionism, which she consistently sees in terms of a secondAmerican Revolution. Another suggestive argument develops the continuitybetween Assing's partly Jewish background and her attitude toward slaveryand race in the US. Though Assing often expressed typical 19th-centuryracial attitudes, her experience of belonging to a despised minority inGermany helped her to espouse the cause of black Americans, sometimes withmore radical passion than Douglass himself. Most original and interesting,moreover, is Diedrich's carefully argued idea that Assing's imagination wasinfused with the romanticized representation of a black African prince anda white European woman in a novel by one of her close German friends, whobased it on Aphra Behn's "Oroonoko." With all of Assing'semphasis on rational social analysis, much of her relationship withDouglass must be explained in terms of the kind of romantic orientalismthat shaped her imagination. As Diedrich makes clear in her narrative, theessential problem of writing this biography was the one-sidedness of theevidence. Assing destroyed all letters (hundreds of them) from Douglass; hedestroyed all but 27 from her to him, and he mentions her only in passingin his third autobiography. The story that emerges is largely based onOttilie's letters to her sister and friends, on her published journalism,and on a handful of manuscripts. But the circumstantial evidence--thatDouglass and Assing corresponded more or less weekly for more than 25years, that during those years Assing spent several months every summerwith the Douglasses, and that Douglass often visited and stayed with Assingin Hoboken (seeking refuge there when he was in imminent danger of arrestafter John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry)--strongly suggests that herpassion was reciprocated and that theirs was an intense intellectual and afully sexual relationship. Aside from these important and fascinatingdetails (which include the highly probable fact that Assing actuallyghost-wrote some of Douglass's journalism in "The New NationalEra"), one of the great strengths of this book is that it places thesepersonal matters in the larger framework of social and politicalconditions: the abolitionist movement, women's emancipation, the Civil War,Washington politics, the crusades for the Civil Rights amendments in the1870s, and much more. Diedrich offers us a profound and nuanced insightinto how this complex interracial relationship between two committed socialradicals could develop in an America rife with political turmoil as well asracial and sexual taboos. The fact that this compelling story has remainedveiled for so long is yet another reminder that these taboos continue toexert their fearful power in our own time. Maria Diedrich deserveseveryone's gratitude for lifting the veil so thoughtfully, tactfully, anddefinitively.

Christoph Lohmann Professor Emeritus of English andAmerican Studies, Indiana University ... Read more

Product Description
The chance or destiny which brought to this land of ours, and placed in the midst of the most progressive and the most enlightened race that Christian civilization has produced, some three or four millions of primitive black people from Africa and their descendants, has created one of the most interesting and difficult social problems which any modern people has had to face. The effort to solve this problem has put to a crucial test the fundamental principles of our political life and the most widely accepted tenets of our Christian faith. Frederick Douglass's career falls almost wholly within the first period of the struggle in which this problem has involved the people of this country, the period of revolution and liberation. That period is now closed. We are at present in the period of construction and readjustment. ... Read more

Product Description
Here in a swift and compelling narrative, Peter Burchard tells the story of the greatest black American of the nineteenth century, a pioneer who laid down a firm foundation for all men and women who came after him.

As a child and as a youth, Frederick Douglass was a slave, but his intelligence, his resilient character, and his innate charm, together with a measure of good fortune, made it possible for him to rise above a state of servitude. He became a forceful speaker and persuasive writer and conducted a campaign to abolish slavery and secure civil rights for his people and for all Americans. He saw himself as a soldier in a battle for the dignity of the "great family of man."

This new biography presents Douglass as he lived through the misery, tragedy, and heartbreak of his early years, as he escaped from slavery only to endure anxiety and outrage in the free states of the North. He eventually made his way to Great Britain, where he lectured forcefully against slavery.

In the United States, as the Civil War began, Douglass recruited young black men to fight and die for their freedom and the freedom of their brothers held in bondage in the South. He became a friend and counselor to presidents, senators, and governors.

Here is a full-length portrait of this strong and passionate American. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Amazing Classic!
If there was ever an argument for the power of literacy, this is it. Outstanding book!

escaping the sick symbiosis of slavery, great historical document
This is an absolutely amazing narrative, of the growth of an individual from the most brutish of slave lives to a free man who took pride in his work and his mind.While told as a story, this book is actually an essay on personal struggle and development: to respect himself, to change his circumstances, to be re-born.At that, it is extremely powerful and moving.The reader empathizes completely with his rage, his striving to grow, and his awakening.He came to the point where he would rather fight back than die slowly, never to be dominated in his spirit.

But it also points to the effect of slavery on the owners.While there are the standard cruel and selfish ones, who are attempting to "break" his spirit in order to domesticate him, the story of how it twists the souls of essentially good people that is the most interesting and shocking.It is like a sickness, their total and unresponsible power, that extingusihes their empathy and replaces it with the most horrible selfishness, as they debase themselves with cruelty.You get the whippings and routine humilations, but also what that does to the perpetrators.

THere are also many interesting asides, which are often philosophical.He points out the hypocrisy of southern christians, who make the worst and most cruel and self-righteous slavers, all while justifying their behavior by the bible.He also recounts how he expected that the "refinement" of the southern gentleman and their leisure would be impsooble in the North, which he pictured as poor as the non-slave holding population in the South - but he discovers an entirely different kind of economic life, in which men worked and prosperedand deveoped themselves even more than what he had observed on plantations.But the most important thing is his recounting of his inner journey, which was encouraged by his learning to read as a way to overcome the ignorence that made for "contented slaves."

There is so much food for thought on the human spirit as well as wonder at how the US has evolved.Highest recommendation. ... Read more