A Slave No More
David W. Blight
Reviewed by Ashley Merrill
At first I thought
that this book
was going to be two different stories about the experience two
different slaves
had back in the 1800’s. This book is so
much more! David Blight sets the book up to tell you their stories as
he
intertwines some of the history of slavery so that you can have a
better
understanding of what these two men and their families went through.
The author starts
out by
talking about how these two journals, of Wallace Turnage and John
Washington,
came into his person. He then slowly starts to talk about their
journeys; where
they were located, who they were slaves of, how many times they tried
to run
away, and when they finally became free. Throughout their story, the
author
pieces together a picture for the reader that includes what exactly was
going
on during that time period, how the war was going, what the president
was
doing, and how it affected the common people.
By doing this, it is very evident that the author has a lot of
knowledge
on this subject.
David Blight then
continues
on to write about how both slaves were freed.
He discusses their families, and traces them forward to the
present. These
two unique stories, as well as all of the history that goes along with
it,
makes this book very unique and worth reading. The author also includes
some
pictures of the slaves and their families, and also their escape
routes. This
definitely makes it more worth reading because you can actually get a
visual.
I would not
recommend this
book to someone just looking for a quick, light read. Instead, I would
recommend this to anyone who is a history buff, and has a true passion
for what
went on when slavery was around. It is definitely eye opening and gives
you a
whole new appreciation for things. This book should be given out to
high school
history classes. I think that it would
be a great learning tool!