Austin Steward 
Twenty-Two Years a Slave – And Forty Years a Freeman 

Austin Steward (1793–1869) was an African-American author and abolitionist. Born into slavery, he managed to escape from Virginia aged 21 and moved to Rochester, New York before settling in Canada. “Twenty-Two Years a Slave – And Forty Years a Freeman” is Steward’s astonishing 1856 autobiography within which he recounts the travails of his harrowing life as a slave in America, as well as his experiences as a free man. A compelling and heart-breaking slave narrative that will appeal to those with an interest in this dark chapter of American history. Contents include: “Slave Life on the Plantation”, “At the Great House”, “Horse-Racing and its Consequences”, “Journey to our New Home in New York”, “Incidents at Sodus Bay”, “Removal from Sodus to Bath”, “Dueling”, “Horse-Racing and General Training”, “Death Bed and Bridal Scenes”, “Hired out to a New Master”, etc. Read & Co. History is proud to be republishing this classic memoir now in a new edition with an introductory poem by Phillis Wheatley.