Equiano's Travels
The most famous slave memoir of the 18th century. Equiano's Travels recounts the extraordinary life and times of Olaudah Equiano, from his early life in Africa to his struggle for freedom in the West Indies.
'I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, was become my own master, and completely free.'
Olaudah Equiano was only eleven when he was kidnapped from the Kingdom of Benin. His report on the horrors that followed whilst imprisoned on slave ships and on land offers a rare and significant insight into the realities of the transatlantic slave trade.
First published in London in 1789, Equiano's memoirs were an instant success and paved the way for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
Abridged and edited by Paul Edwards.
'A powerful and terrifying read.' Guardian
'Central to our understanding of Atlantic slavery.' The Times
'A gripping account from 1789 of life as a slave.' New York Times
Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in the Igbo region of the Kingdom of Benin (now south-eastern Nigeria).
After purchasing his freedom around the age of 20, Equiano sailed to Britain and continued to work as a merchant and explorer. He became a leading member of the Sons of Africa, a small abolitionist group composed of free Africans in London, and a prominent figure in academia and political circles. Following the success of his autobiography, he toured England, Scotland, and Ireland to lecture on the horrors he faced in slavery.
In 1792, he married an English woman, Susannah Cullen, with whom he had two daughters.
Equiano died in 1797 in Westminster.