Twelve Years a Slave. Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of Newyork, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River, in Louisiana. Unknown Author

The shocking, true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man, who lived with his wife and children in Saratoga, New York, in 1841. An accomplished violinist, he is lured into a touring job by two men but awakens to find himself chained to the floor after being drugged. He is transported to a cotton plantation in the American South, where he is eventually sold to abusive slave driver Edwin Epps. Northup spends twelve harrowing years as a slave before his release. His story, described by the Detroit Tribune as "the most remarkable book ever issued from the American press," is a testimony to the strength of one man's spirit and his remarkable will to survive. Now a major motion picture.