Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

by David Blight

In Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom historian David Blight, Sterling Professor of American History at Yale University, tells the life story of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895). It’s an amazing story, from slavery to international celebrity and Blight goes into the many different facets and contradictions of an extraordinary man. If you’re not familiar with Frederick Douglass, it’s worth starting with one of his own memoirs first, like Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which is highly readable and available for free as ebook. Blight’s book will then put that story into context and reflect on it with the greater evenhandedness of the historian.