My Impressions on Twelve Years a Slave, Book Review Example

The book “Twelve Years a Slave” offers a personal, first-hand account of what life was really like for slaves. While it is not the only book from its time that depicts the life of slaves (Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” being the other prominent example), the fact that it was written by someone who actually experienced slavery makes it enormously powerful. The issue of slavery is discussed in history books and classes, but the information presented in that context is usually general and impersonal. History books can offer information about how many slaves were brought to the Americas by the Atlantic slave trade, how the use of slave labor helped to support the economic development of the colonies, and how slavery became a politically divisive issue that led to the Civil War. Even when details about how slaves were treated are offered, these details do not necessarily describe the full horrors of slavery.

Reading the first-hand account of what Solomon Northup endured makes it possible for readers to see the issues from the perspective of someone who was actually enslaved. This account is made even more powerful by the fact that Northup had been a free man before being tricked into leaving his life of freedom. “Twelve Years a Slave” puts faces and names to the slaves and their masters, and allows readers to understand that slavery was not just a political or economic issue, but was a human rights issue. More than anything else I have read, “Twelve Years a Slave” showed me the true nature of the cruelty of slavery, and gave me a far greater appreciation for the horrors that hundreds of thousands of slaves experienced in the early centuries of the American experience.