Extract from the powerful memoir which inspired Steve McQueen's Oscar nominated film of the same title.

Solomon Northup was a free man who worked as a carpenter in the state of New York. During a visit south to Washington in 1841, he was kidnapped and sold to a slave trader. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity in Louisiana.

After his rescue, Northup was reunited with his family and went on to publish this important memoir; a vital testimony of the cruel realities of life as a slave in the American south.

Reader: Rhashan Stone

Abridger: Robin Brooks

Producer: Kirsteen Cameron. Show less