The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself

Kidnapped from his Igbo homeland as a boy, Olaudah Equiano survived the Middle Passage and years of enslavement, much of it at sea, where he learned navigation, trade, and the strange double life of an enslaved sailor who fought in naval battles for men who owned him. Shilling by shilling, he traded on his own account until he could buy the one thing everyone else took for granted: himself.

Published in 1789, his autobiography became a bestseller and a weapon, one of the first slave narratives in English, written by a man who had seen the system from inside its ships and used his own life as evidence against it. It is also, simply, a gripping story: storms, battles, an Arctic expedition, escapes and betrayals, told in a voice by turns devout, sharp, and quietly furious. A firsthand account that helped change history, from a life that seems to contain ten.

At roughly 79,900 words, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself runs about 9 hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself is in the public domain, so the complete text is free on Project Gutenberg and LoudReader has the entire Project Gutenberg catalog built in. To listen:

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