A review by chan_fry
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

5.0

I am disappointed in myself for not having read this earlier. Any American who hasn’t read it definitely should.

Without waxing polemic, merely by stating his experiences (and thoughts and opinions), Douglass powerfully brings down any and all defenses — both ancient and modern — of the “peculiar institution” (slavery) that defined the first half of the U.S.’s history — and arguably has a massive influence on current events. The language is startlingly clear (relative to many other 19th Century books I’ve read) and requires little explanation — though the specific edition I read was apparently annotated for middle/high school students and thus explains the handful of arcane words and literary references.

(I have published a longer review on my website.)